Before He Was One
by Anomilee
Summary: A look at what their lives would be like if House and Cuddy had pursued a relationship when they met back at Michigan. Rated T for now, M later.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from House M.D.**

* * *

He leaned over and kissed the little girl on her head and told her he loved her. She didn't really respond to him. Instead, she just went over and sat on the third step of the staircase leading to the next level of their home. He watched as she propped her elbows up on her knees, her straight brown locks framing her face as she cupped it into her two little hands. He knew there was nothing else he could say to her. He wanted to stay, but he had a job offer at an out of state hospital. They couldn't come with him because their mother had to finish up her residency at a nearby hospital. He wanted to stay, but she had told him to go since the hospital was offering him a job as the head of his department. She planned to join him in a year after she had finished her residency. 'She'll be okay,' he thought to himself as he looked at the little girl, 'kids are resilient in situations like this.' He turned around to see the woman he had fallen in love with so many years ago. She was holding the youngest of their daughters. She gave him a forced smile and he leaned over to kiss the little girl on her cheek.

"Why can't we go with you daddy." she said softly, with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Don't cry baby..."he pleaded with her..."I'll be back. It's just for a little while and I'll call everyday and we'll send pictures. I'll come down to visit every chance I get."

"But I don't want you to go," she replied, starting to cry.

"Aww... you're killing me blue eyes," he said running his fingers through her slightly curled hair that matched her sister's in color. "It'll all be okay, I promise."

The little girl stopped sobbing a little knowing that her father had never broken a promise to her before. He looked from the little girl to her mother. She wiped a few tears that had fallen away. He immediately embraced her and she held on for dear life, figuring if she never let go then he could never leave them.

"I love you so much," he whispered in her ear pulling her closer.

As they embraced a little while longer he looked over her shoulders at the little girl sitting on the stairs. She had her mother's eyes, bluish-grey ith a hint of green, and they pierced right through him like her mother's did when she was mad at him. But this was his five year old daughter, whose eyes would always light up at the sight of him. Her look was not one of conviction, like her mother's was. Instead she had a blank stare in her eyes, like she was looking at air only, like there was no one or nothing there. It was as if she was willing him to not exist to her anymore. He finally pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. He wiped a few more tears that had fallen and they engaged in a kiss. Unbeknown to them, a kiss that would be the last one they shared that had that much passion and love for a long time to come. He smiled at her, and afraid to stay any longer for fear of not being able to make himself leave, he turned to open the door. He stopped before he stepped out of the home. In his heart he knew nothing would ever be the same after he left, but he wanted so badly to be wrong this time. He let out a long sigh and stepped out of the door, refusing to turn around and look into the eyes of the three people he loved the most knowing he was having to leave them. He closed the door and he was gone.

She rubbed the little girl's back trying to soothe her as she wrapped her arms around her and buried her face into her neck soaking it with tears. He was gone. She wiped a few more tears away and gathered herself. She had to be strong for them. She forced as believable of a smile as she could and turned around to look at her oldest daughter. She sat there with her chin cupped in her hands looking blankly at the door.

"Wanna eat some ice cream," she said sniffing trying to hold back the tears. She wouldn't usually let them eat ice cream this close to bed time, but she didn't know what else to do to help them feel better. She didn't even know what to do to make herself feel better. The little girl just looked over at her blankly, without turning her looked back at the door showing the same lack of emotion. And without a word, she got up, turned her back and grabbed hold of the banister, disappearing into the upstairs portion of the house.


	2. Chapter 2

…10 years later...

"Okay," he said turning around from his white board facing the other four doctors in the room, "so we need to electrically induce a seizure in his occipital lobe to see if he can't recognize what he sees because it's not registering in his brain or because he's suddenly become an idiot."

"But there's no way to contain the seizure to just his occipital lobe," she said looking at him knowing he already knew this and didn't care.

"I know, that's why you," he said pointing to Kutner, "are going to go inform the dragon lady of our plans and get her permission and the rest of you are going to come with me."

"Wait, why can't you go and get Cuddy's consent?" Kutner asked not wanting to be the one to present this idea to his boss's boss.

"Because I, along with the rest of your kindergarten class, am going to try to induce a seizure using a visual stimulus to make it look like it happened randomly before she says no," he said grabbing his cane and beginning towards the door.

"House, the man's a photographer, there's no way Cuddy is going to give you permission to mess with his brain, let alone the part so vital in his daily life," Foreman told him.

"Well something's already messing with that part of his brain, so unless we mess with _it_, it's not going to be much use to him anyway," he said with a 'haven't you heard anything we've said' look on his face.

Foreman and the rest of the team looked down in resignation as they prepared to follow him to the patient's room.

"Com'on lets go play with the strobe light," he said heading towards the exit again.

"But House, "Thirteen started in one last futile attempt, "there's no way to ensure the visual stimulus causes a seizure in his occipital lobe. It would be pure luck."

He turned slightly as he pushed on the door to exit, "Good thing we all ate our lucky charms this morning."

With that he was out the door. Three of them followed while the other went the opposite way to find Cuddy. Kutner sighed as he came closer to her office knowing that this was going to be a hard sell. Who was he kidding, this was going to be impossible to sell. Well at least she would know it was House's idea and not be as hard on him.

"Doctor Cuddy we…," he stopped mid-stride when he realized the person he was looking for was not in the office, but two other people were.

He looked around the room to make sure he was in the right place. He just stared at the two girls before him with a confused look on his face when he realized he was in the right office. The girl that looked to be the older of the two was sitting down at a table writing something. She had on tattered faded blue jeans with a dull blue short sleeved shirt pulled over a gray long sleeved shirt with some flat blue shoes, almost the same color as her shirt. She had bluish–gray eyes and her long dark brown locks fell half way her back. She looked a little more mature than the other girl, but not by much. Her cheeks and lips were not as pouty as the other girl's. The other was standing up over her and had gotten comfortable and taken her shoes off. She had on a pair of cuffed pants that stopped half way the bottom part of her leg, with a pink tank top and a lime green sweater pulled over it. She had her brown hair braided into two braids, one falling across each shoulder and continuing until each came to an end with little lime green bows. They stared at him standing there looking confused.

"Hiiiiiii," the girl in the chair said slowly and sarcastically passing her hand in front of her in a one time waving motion.

"Hello," he managed to get out still a bit confused about the two girls being in this office.

He wanted to ask them what they were doing there, but he tried to come up with an explanation on his own before asking. They still stood there looking at each other in silence. The two girls looked at each other then looked back at him.

"What?" the one with the braids asked, "Are we supposed to dance now or something?"

"I'm sorry." He said snapping out of it. "I was looking for Dr. Cuddy."

"Well I would tell you she's in here , but she lost her power of invisibility a week ago, so the fact that you can't see her is actually due to her not being here," the oldest said with a look of sarcastic sympathy to what she deemed a dim-witted stranger.

"Right I'll go look for her," he said turning around to head out of the office.

"Idiot." He heard the youngest mumble as he opened the door to leave.

He wasn't offended, after all he was used to it. He walked into the patient's room still a little confused about the girls.

"What did Cuddy say?" Thirteen asked.

"She wasn't in her office," he replied.

"What's wrong?" Chase asked him seeing the confused look on his face.

Foreman had called him and Cameron in after House had left, probably to watch television. He figured if House came back and made them do the procedure, it would be best to have as many people as possible there since they were going to mess with a brain that obviously had something wrong with it to begin with.

"There were two girls in Cuddy's office." He paused a little while before continuing. "They look like they could be related to her…but when they opened their mouths, I suddenly felt like I was in the room with…House." He said pausing at letting his thoughts flow out of his mouth.

Taub and Thirteen just looked at him ready to get back to not doing what House had asked them, while Cameron, Foreman, and Chase gave each other the 'It can't be look.' The three of them headed out of the room towards Cuddy's office and the other three looked at each other and followed, wanting to find out what the others obviously knew.

Now they were all standing outside of Cuddy's office looking at the two girls who had not noticed them. "What's going on?" Thirteen asked.

"It's their kids." Cameron said.

"I had heard some people talk about them," Chase started, "but never thought it was true.

"Wait…whose kids?" asked a still confused Taub.

"House and Cuddy's." Foreman replied looking at him.

The newly informed three stared at the girls in a new light, and a little more confused.

"Wow," started Chase, "they seem so well adjusted…you know, with House being their father and all."

They stood there and stared at the girls a little longer before they were noticed by the younger one.

"Uh-oh," she said tapping her sister on the shoulder, "he's back and he's brought the rest of the peanut gallery with him."

They still stood there staring at each other for a few more moments. "Don't move," the oldest said, "they don't seem too bright. They won't see you if you don't move."

The six standing on the outside of the office where forced to turn around when they heard an all too familiar voice behind them.

"What the hell are you doing?" he inquired. "We have a patient and you are supposed to reviving or frying his brain. Why are you all gawking into Cuddy's office? Is she giving a peep show?" he asked as the six moved aside allowing him to see into the office.

His face grew serious when he saw its occupants. He just stared for a moment before barging in through the double doors. He just stood and looked at them as they stared back unmoved by his presence. He was clearly upset. In his mind he wanted to embrace them because he hadn't seen them in so long. He had kept in touch after he left, but the long distance relationship proved to be too much for him and his then fiancé. The visits and phone calls started growing less frequent, and after everything that had happened in his life, he had become a different person and he knew it. He figured the three of them would be better off without him. So, he walked out of their lives giving them what he thought would be a better chance at happiness. It wasn't easy and he still thought about them all the time. He had learned to deal with seeing their mother, but he couldn't handle seeing the girls. This made him upset because they were there without him knowing. If he knew, he could have avoided them. It was a personal part of him that made him unstable emotionally and mentally. He didn't want to let that part of him be seen by anyone, especially the people he had to work with everyday. He was different, and he had learned to be as comfortable as possible with his life, and he didn't want that to change.

By now the girls had knowing smirks on their faces. They knew he was upset and they loved having this effect on him. The youngest gasped and held her hands up to her face, as an intentional and sarcastic late reaction to seeing him.

"Surprise," the other said just as sarcastically as her sister, as her smirk changed to a grin.

He didn't say anything. He didn't take another step towards them. He couldn't allow him self to make another gesture geared towards them because he would come closer to breaking in front of the crowd now standing in the office with them. But he knew who he could deal with now. He needed to know why they where there.

"Go do what I told you," he commanded to the doctors in the room still looking at the girls. They all left slowly, the two doctor's that no longer worked for him taking it as their que to leave also. He turned and barged out of the office just as quickly as he had barged in. Only one person had answers for him and he was off to find her.

A/N: Reviews are welcomed and needed to let me know if I should continue or not. And chapters will get a little longer as the story goes along.


	3. Chapter 3

She was at the nurses' station scanning over some paper work that she had just gotten, when she looked up and saw House coming towards her. She grimaced and turned back to the papers ready to go through the usual exhausting routine with him. Then she realized that the look on his face was not one she was used to seeing. She remembered the girls and her face turned to one of panic. She prepared for an even more exhausting battle. She hurried to gather the papers not wanting to have this discussion in front of the nurses and everyone who passed by. She started toward her office meeting him before he made it all the way to the nurses' station.

"What do you want House?" She asked him just in case he had not been to her office. He turned to walk with her.

"Why are those kids in your office?" he asked. This made her stop in her tracks. She was upset, she turned to look at him.

"Those kids?" she asked stretching her eyes in disbelief of him not even addressing them by their names. "You mean Hayden and Madison?"

He turned away slightly ashamed and knowing he had upset her by his comment. He then locked eyes with her and said in a calmer tone.

"What are they doing here?"

She rolled her eyes and continued to walk towards her office. She thought about not answering him, but decided this was neither the place nor the time to be difficult. She proceeded to tell him why the girls were at the hospital.

"They got into trouble at school yesterday and got suspended. I had to bring them to work with me today because I didn't want to leave them at home ," she told him stopping in front of her office.

He couldn't help, but to ask, "What did they get in trouble for?"  
She looked at him surprised at his interest.

"They're acting out because they are switching schools in the next few weeks," she started. "They want to switch now, but I want them to wait until next semester. So, they figured if they get suspended from this school, I would have no other choice, but to let them go to the new school."

"So they're only here for today?" he asked feeling relieved.

"No, they are going to be coming here tomorrow and everyday once they start at the new school, until I find someone to take them home after school." She said turning to go into her office.

"Why can't you take them home?" he asked his feeling of relief now gone.

"Because the new school is farther from home and it would take too long for me to bring them home and get back to work," she said disgusted.

"I have a meeting in a few minutes and no time to sit around and chat with you," she said a little annoyed and hurt that he didn't want the girls around.

She turned and walked into her office and he just stood there for a moment before he decided to push it to the back of his mind. The best thing he could do for now is to not think about it. He left to return to his office to see what new info the others had gathered on his patient.  
She walked into her office to grab a few papers before heading to the meeting.

"Okay listen up you two," she said placing both hands on her desk and leaning forward, "you are not allowed to leave this office without my permission. If you do, and I find out, it will not be pretty."

"What if the building's on fire?" Hayden, the eldest said, making Madison let out a stifled laugh. She shot her a menacing look and the girl put her head down not willing to take on her mother in this mood.

The girls were grounded, but she also wanted to keep them out of his way. She knew that he loved them, but she also knew he was a different man than he was when he left. It was hard for him and her to do the long distance relationship. Even harder for her having to work for such long hours, then come home having to take care of two small kids. But she had managed, and she had survived, but their relationship hadn't. He started to become more distant with her. He broke it off, and she had to let him go. She didn't want to but she had to invest all she had into her girls. She could not sit and wait for him to come out of his slump. It was a good thing she didn't because she would still be waiting. They had agreed to put their past behind them when they began working together, though they still obtained a very close, and sometimes agonizing friendship.

"I should be out of the meeting in the next hour or two," she said grabbing the papers on her desk and heading out the door.

"Wow," Taub said sitting down at the table in House's office, "I never knew Dr. Cuddy had kids."

"I can't believe the universe would be so cruel as to make House someone's father," Kutner said more thrown by this realization. "Poor kids."

"They look like they're dealing with it fine," Foreman added. "House looks like he's finally met his match."

"Shhh, you guys he's coming," Thirteen warned as House opened the door.

Everyone just looked at him waiting for him to initiate the conversation. He looked back and forward between them.

"I know it's hard to pry your eyes away, but I'm not batting for the other team. But if you want to invite some of your girls over I'd be glad to be a designated hitter," he said looking at Thirteen.  
She ignored him and starting reading the new info they had on the patient.

"Do you still want us to, induce the seizure?" Kutner asked.

"No, we have to find some other tests," he said now wanting to avoid Cuddy and her two guests for as long as he could.

"What are you guys trying to do? Make him go completely blind. My God, you people are cold. I mean after all he is a photographer." With that he turned back to the white board to write down the new symptom and come up with some other possible answers and tests.

_____________________________________________________

"I'm bored," Madison said sitting on top of the desk.

"Yeah me too," Hayden agreed sitting up on the sofa. "Lets go get something to eat from the cafeteria."  
She got up to walk out of the door.

"But Hayden," she said grabbing her sister's arm, "Mom said not to leave her office."

"Do you always do everything mom tells you to do?" She asked turning around annoyed with her sister.

"No, but," she said pausing knowing that they were going to get into more trouble, "she's really mad this time, and I don't wanna make her even more mad."

"Maddie," she said shifting her weight to one leg "we are already in trouble, we might as well have fun while we can. Besides you heard her, she's only been in the meeting for about ten minutes, and I'm hungry. So lets go."

"Wait let me get my shoes, "she yelled behind her sister who was already leaving out of the door by now.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the comments guys, keep'em coming. The more I get the faster I'll post more.

The girls had wandered the hospital and lost track of time playing a video game they found hooked up in one of the rooms in pediatrics. After that, they went outside to the courtyard. It had been close to an hour and a half since they had left the office. They were on their way back to Cuddy's office when they saw her come around the corner with fire in her eyes. She was no more than 5 feet away from them.

"Oh crap," Madison said as they both turned to try and run.

"Not so fast," she said grabbing their shirts to keep them from walking away.

"Why are you in the hallway?" she asked, trying not to loose it on them in front of everyone walking through the hospital.

"Because you brought us here," Hayden stated, sarcastically. "You know, this morning when you came to work."

"Hayden," she glared at her, and continued trying to remain calm, "don't start with me. Not now, I am not in the mood."

She stood there for a moment, looking back and forth between them trying to let some of her anger pass and trying to figure out what would be the consequences for disobeying her.

"In my office now," she said stepping aside to let them pass. She glared at both of them as they walked pass her, and then she followed.

As they got closer to the clinic, she saw House walking off of the elevators. She knew he was about to go home, because she had been not so kindly informed that he had cured his patient, and the trouble he had caused in doing so. She thought twice about reprimanding him about it at that moment, having the girls there and all, but it wouldn't make any sense to her to talk to him tomorrow about something he did today.

"I need to see you in my office, "she said glaring up at him as she walked by.  
He looked at the girls walking in front of her and decided he didn't want to handle being in the same room with them again.

"Okay," he offered when she was a few steps pass him, "I'll come in first thing in the mor-…"

"Now," she commanded, holding the clinic doors open as the two girls entered.

He hesitated before starting to walk towards her. After they had entered her office, she followed behind him with war raging in her mind. Before she could start however, the phone rang. The girls had now sat on the sofa in the office, both a little mad and nervous about the scolding and added punishment they were about to receive.

"Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital, this is Dr. Lisa Cuddy speaking how may I help you," she said in the nicest voice rolling her eyes at all three of them. She continued on with the conversation as House tried to get more comfortable with being in the room with all three of them again. He heard a loud sigh and then he heard his oldest daughter's voice.

"So, what are you in for?" He looked down to the couch and they were both looking up at him. He decided it would be best to answer them instead of ignoring them. After all, he didn't want them to think that he hated them, because that was as far from the truth as you could possibly get and beyond.

"I'm not sure," he said studying their faces trying to take in what facial features they had kept since last time he saw them and which had changed. "I've narrowed it down to five possible things, but judging from her demeanor," he said looking at Cuddy and squinting his eyes a little, "I'm going to say the thing that causes the biggest law suite."

He looked back down at the girls to see smiles that read of amusement on their faces. This made him comfortable enough to continue the conversation.

"What about you two?" he asked.

"You know, the usual." Hayden began. "Living life, having fun. The things she doesn't allow us to do."

"Really?" he replied sounding a little surprised. "I thought I was the only one she did that to."

The girls smiled again, happy that someone was on their side.

"Cool, jacket," Madison managed to get out before they heard the phone slam down on the hook drawing all of their attention back to her.

"I take it, the call didn't go too well," House said sounding sarcastically serious.

"Shut up House," she quickly snapped at him before deciding to deal with the girls first. She knew he was uncomfortable and decided to keep him there a little longer before letting him out of the awkward situation.

"Why did you leave this office, when I specifically told you not to?" She asked the girls, still trying to keep calm as she walked around the desk. They both just sat there avoiding eye contact with her.

"Hayden and Madison, I am talking to you two?"

"Oh, I thought you were talking to him," Madison said earning a convicting stare from her mother.

He just sat back and watched the three of them. It was kind of funny to see Cuddy in this state when the person on the receiving end of her wrath wasn't him. At one point, one of the girls had tried to explain why they had left, but she cut them off and continued to half yell half talk to them about how mad she was and about the punishment they were going to receive. He looked over at the girls, who just sat there taking it all in and letting it bounce off of them at the same time. They looked down at the carpet beside her feet the whole time, avoiding eye contact with her.

He looked at them reacting to their mother's actions more than her words. They were so beautiful. Hayden was now fifteen and looked the same as the last time he saw her, with her facial features being just a little more defined than her sisters. He could tell by their short conversation and her reaction to Cuddy's rant that she was very outspoken and gave her mother the most trouble out of the two of them. This didn't surprise him though. She was always the most demanding and outspoken of the two girls. Then he looked at his youngest daughter who was now twelve, making thirteen in a few weeks. He surveyed her over sized cheeks and her heart shaped face. He could tell she could also dish out her own share of trouble.

He wanted to know more about them, about what was going on in their lives, if they still had the same likes and dislikes, and if not which had changed, and everything else he could possibly know about his two little girls that weren't so little anymore. For a minute he wanted them back in his life, he wanted to be the father he once was to them, but he knew he couldn't allow that. So, he did what he does best and stepped away from the edge that could possibly lead into an abyss of happiness, out of fear it would only lead to heartache and destruction for them and him also. He snapped out of it when he realized Cuddy was finishing up one argument and ready to start the next with him.

"When are you going to give our guitars back?" Madison asked showing her biggest concern out of everything her mother had just said.

"Really Madison?" Cuddy said exasperated, making the girl shrug her shoulders and hold out her hands as if asking 'What?'.

"Out of everything I just said, that was all you got out of it?"

The girl sat back further into the sofa folding her arms and shaking her head as she looked out of the window at the sky that was once bright turning a pale yellow and orange color. Cuddy shook her head and turned around to face House.

"I guess I'm next in line for a smack down," he said stretching his eyes.

"Why did you grab your patient's girlfriend's breast!" She said ignoring him.

The two girls let out a slight chuckle, but she quickly silenced them with a mean stare. She then turned back to House.

"I didn't grab her breast," he replied in his defense. "She was smuggling him something that was making him sick. I had to find out where she was hiding it. "

"Okay, so why did you grab her breast?" Cuddy asked again still not hearing an answer she deemed acceptable to the question she had asked.

"Well did you see the size of those things?" House asked. "I figured if she could hide it anywhere…"

"Enough," Cuddy snapped silencing him and the soft giggles that she heard coming from behind her.

"Couldn't you have just asked her?" She asked him. By now she could see Madison's hand being slowly raised from her peripheral. "What?" she snapped at her.

"Nothing," the girl quickly replied, putting her hand in her lap and looking towards the ground. She turned her attention back to House.

"Hmm, ask her. That brilliant idea never seemed to cross my mind," he said sarcastically. "Because people usually readily give up information on things they are smuggling."

She folded her arms in resignation. "Go and apologize House," she said with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Apologize for what?" he asked seemingly surprised. "I was the one that helped to save his life, she was the one killing him."

"This hospital cannot afford another law suite due to your antics," she told him.

"Uh, people usually come to this hospital because of my antics," he said matter-of-factly.

"Just go and apologize," she said turning around trying to end the conversation.

"What's in it for me?" he asked.

"I'll give you two weeks of clinic instead of four," she said leaning on her desk and folding her arms.

"How about you take two weeks off of what I already have," he suggested.

"Or how about I give you the whole four and add six more to that," she retorted leaning her head to the side a little, daring him.

He looked her up and down deciding if he should try to continue the conversation. He looked at the girls on the sofa, who were now preoccupied with their own thoughts, and thought about the argument she had just had with them. He looked back at her, and decided he wasn't going to win this battle, not with her this angry. He adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and turned around to go apologize to the patient and his girlfriend. She sighed, happy he had not given his usual exhausting argument. She walked around her desk ready to finish up her last business of the day at the hospital.


	5. Chapter 5

It was now close to nine and Cuddy was just finishing up in her office. She gathered her things and woke the two girls who had fallen asleep due to boredom. They walked to her car and began their drive home. By now all of their emotions had calmed and they were having a regular conversation. She wanted to talk about the events of the day and them seeing their father for the first time in years, but she didn't know how to bring it up. It didn't seem to faze them at all, and they had not spoken a word about it. She knew they had to think something of him living so close by and still not being involved in their lives, but she had never bought it up before because they didn't see each other. She decided to bite the bullet and ask.

"So what did you guys think about seeing your father today?" she asked keeping her eyes on the road.

The girls got quiet for a moment and exchanged glances.

"What do you mean?" Hayden asked looking over at her.

She returned her stare quickly before turning her eyes back to the road.

"Well I know you haven't seen him in a long time, and since you're going to be coming to the hospital with me, I wanted to make sure that it wasn't an uncomfortable situation for you guys."

The girls exchanged glances again.

"He seems cool," Madison volunteered to be the first one to reply.

"Madison, she didn't ask if he seemed like a good person to hang out with. She asked did you mind seeing him again," Hayden informed her sister, with a slightly taunting tone.

"Well I'm just saying," she replied shrugging her shoulders, "it was no biggie. Its not like he was trying to be our dad or anything."

The car became quiet as Cuddy waited for Hayden to answer. She didn't say anything so she decided to nudge to conversation along.

"What about you?" she asked looking over at Hayden.

"I don't have a problem with him," she said looking straight ahead.

"Besides he seems to drive you a little crazy which I find entertaining, and the law suite thing is pretty cool."

"Yeah," Madison chimed in with a chuckle.

Cuddy looked over at the amused smirk on her daughter's face and had no choice but to smile too.

"Plus he's been there for years" Hayden started again, "you gotta give it to the guy. It must be hard for somebody like him to stick with something so long."

She looked in her rear view mirror and could see the amused and optimistic expression on Madison's face change to one of sorrow and disappointment as she lowered her head. She looked over at Hayden to see her sitting there expressionless, like they had not just had the conversation. She turned her attention back to the road sorry she had brought up the subject.

"I'll find somewhere else for you to stay, so you won't have to come to the hospital," she said softly.

"Mom, it's fine," Hayden said with a forced laugh. "We don't mind. He doesn't bother us."

"If you guys don't want to go you don't ha-," Cuddy started, but was cut off by Hayden.

"OMG don't worry about it," she said a little louder as to drown her mother out. "It's been almost eight years. We're over it, it's not a big deal. I was kidding."

Cuddy looked over at Hayden with questioning eyes. She turned back to the road and decided to let the girls come to the hospital until she found an after school alternative.

"Okay, fine," she said letting them know she had made a decision.

She knew it was not fine though. She had seen the look on Madison's face and she had heard Hayden's tone behind her remark. She knew her daughter and she was more serious than she was joking. She also knew that the girls weren't over it, they had learned to accept it, but they weren't over it. She knew them better than they knew themselves, and better than she knew herself for that matter, having raised them and centered her life around them, ignoring her own feelings and needs at times. She would allow them to come to the hospital, but the moment she thought it was affecting them negatively she would stop it.  
____________________________________________________________

The next day he saw her rushing into the hospital with the two girls coming behind her at a slower pace. She had never been unexpectedly late before. She always avoided the morning traffic and got there earlier than she needed too. By the time he got there she would have had her morning cup of coffee, started on some paper work, and would be waiting at the front desk to scold him for being late. He assumed the reason she was late had something to do with her two companions. He couldn't take his eyes off of them. This is what he had left behind all those years ago. He observed their interactions with each other and without knowing it his mind had drifted off into 'what-if' land. He had so many questions that he couldn't answer. He wondered how their lives and his life would be different if he had stayed. Where would he fit into their lives as it is now?

He snapped out of it when his eyes met with those of the woman he had once planned to marry. She had been watching him watching them. She locked eyes with him for a little while before she looked away then back to the papers she had been gathering at the front desk. The girls had not noticed this as they were engaged in their own conversation. He looked away and just stood there for a moment longer, before deciding to skip out of clinics again today. He had no case, and decided that paying a visit to the head oncologist would be better than being locked up in exam rooms with a bunch of overly dramatic liars.

He opened the door with out saying anything. He limped towards the large windows in the office, grabbing a doughnut off of the desk as he crossed the room. He stood and looked out of the window a little while before biting into the doughnut. Wilson had watched him the entire time waiting for him to say something upon barging into his office, yet again.

"House," he said abandoning the papers on his desk and leaning back in his chair, "Come in. Have a doughnut."

This made House turn around to face him. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked obviously preoccupied with some other thought.

Wilson just stared at him for a moment trying to take in this version of his disturbed friend, a state in which he rarely saw him.

"Wow, it must be something really big this time," he said watching him slowly make his way back across the room. He placed his cane against the desk before lowering himself onto the sofa.

"What are you talking about?" he asked not sure how he wanted to present his thoughts to his friend. "I just came in here to talk to a friend, a friend with food."

He took another bite out of the doughnut.

"Well talk," Wilson said folding his arms as a smug grin formed on his face.

"You knew didn't you?" he asked already knowing the answer.

"Knew what?"

"You're easier to read than Thirteen's diary," House said finishing the doughnut.

"Alright, I knew," he confessed, holding up his hands.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"She called and asked if I could pick the girls up from school and bring them here," he started. "She was busy and I wasn't doing anyth-"

"Wait you picked them up?" House asked, remembering Cuddy told him that she went and got them. Wilson just nodded.

"She told me she picked them up," he said to himself, obviously bothered by the fact she had lied to him, with Wilson overhearing.

"Well she probably just didn't want to get into the whole discussion about me going to get them."

House just looked at him, confused to as why she would lie.

"House," Wilson started, leaning forward in his seat now, "you are still their father. They are the same little girls that used to run into your arms the minute they saw you."

House had heard enough. By now he had grabbed his cane and was rising up from the sofa. He didn't need Wilson to go all sappy on him and make things worst.

"And she's still their mother, the same woman you proposed to. Talk to them," he pleaded knowing it would do no help.

House turned to face him with his free hand now on the doorknob.

"Talk to her," he continued. "She'll at least have a better idea of how to handle the situation."

He stared at him for a few more moments before looking away and walking out of the door.

* * *

A/N: Okay I'm about to change the rating to M, just so I wouldn't have to do it later.

I also wanted to say not to worry about Cuddy. She is not one of those distant/detached moms in this fic.


	6. Chapter 6

It was now lunch time and Cuddy was still trying to catch up on her work for the day. She had been late this morning because it was already hard to get two teenagers up for school, but it was harder to get them up even earlier than that. By the time she had gotten them up, made them get dressed, and stopped all the petty fights in between all of this, she would be heading into the middle of the morning rush hour. It was a good thing she didn't have a meeting this morning.

"Anyone up for lunch?" she heard Wilson say sticking his head through the doors of her office.

She glanced up at him quickly turning back to the paper work in front of her. The girls were looking at her eagerly waiting for her to accept his invitation. It was a chance for them to leave the office.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm gonna have to skip lunch today. I have a lot to catch up on, I got in late this morning."

The girls just looked at him, pleading with him to get them out of the office for a little while.

"Why don't I just take the girls then?" he asked looking back at her getting the message.

She looked up to find all three of them looking at her. She contemplated for a little longer.

"Please Mom," Hayden pleaded, "we promise not to have any fun."

"Yeah, Mommy, we won't even smile," Madison added. "Please."

She looked over at Wilson.

"I promise not to let them have any fun," he said.

She sighed before she started. "Okay, but no fun," she said deciding to go along with their sarcasm.

"Thanks," they said smiling before getting up and rushing out of the office.

"We'll be back in about an hour," Wilson said before following the girls out of the office.

Now that the girls where gone she could concentrate more on her work without being disrupted by their bickering and questions. She turned back to the paper work, but still found her self being disrupted, this time by her own thoughts. She had seen him this morning staring at them. She wondered what the reason behind his actions was. He didn't have the same look he had yesterday when he was obviously upset about the girls being there. He almost had a look of regret on his face. This scared her. Did he want to be a part of their lives again? If he did, would he actually stay this time or would he stay true to the person he had become and hurt them again? These were questions that plagued her mind. She couldn't allow him to become a significant part of their lives, unless she knew he was there to stay. She wouldn't try to keep him away, because after all, he was their father. But she wouldn't let him hurt them again. She saw what it did to them the first time he left, and those wounds still had not healed all the way. The sound of the phone ringing brought her out of her thoughts.

* * *

"House," he heard Wilson calling him from a table in the middle of the lunch room.

He turned to see Wilson waving him over with his hand. He would have turned and left, but the girls were also looking at him by now. He limped over to them, glaring at Wilson, knowing he had caused the commotion to make him come over to the table.

"Want to join us?" he asked. House looked at the two girls who were still looking at him. Both of them smiled, Hayden's smile more sarcastic than her sister's.

"No, I-, "House started but was cut off by Dr. Feldman, one of the oncologists who worked under Wilson.

"Dr. Wilson," he began, "I didn't know you had kids."

"Uh…," Wilson began looking at House, waiting for him to jump in and set the guy straight.

"Awwkwwaard," Madison said in a sing song voice, as she combed through her salad with her fork.

Wilson began talking again, when he saw that House was not going to intervene in the conversation.

"They're not my kids. They are Dr. Cuddy's."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the other doctor said looking at Wilson then the girls. "I didn't know she had kids."

"It's okay," Hayden began. "She usually tries to keep her personal life separate from her work. Unlike some people who try to keep their personal life separated from their person," she finished with a pleasant smile on her face.

The three doctors looked at her, one confused, one trying to deal with the situation she had just made even more awkward, and one feeling like he had been stabbed through his heart. Madison just shook her head, before bringing her hand up to her forehead trying to avoid eye contact with anyone.

"I have a few things, I need to check on," House said looking at the girl before turning to walk away.

"Well I'll see you around, Dr. Wilson," Dr. Feldman said before walking away.

Wilson just stared at his friends' oldest daughter, waiting for her to answer the obvious question of why she had just made that comment. She just stared back at him with the same smile. He then turned to Madison, who just looked at him and shook her head again understanding where he was coming from. He too shook his head before finishing up his lunch. He didn't know why he was so surprised at her subtle, but not too subtle comment. After all, she was House's daughter.

After they had finished lunch, Wilson had walked around the hospital with the girls, giving them a little more time before they had to go back into Cuddy's office. They were now standing in front of the doors to the office.

"God I hate being grounded," Hayden said.

"Well you wouldn't be if you didn't get suspended from school," Wilson replied, holding the door open for the girls.

"Had fun?" Cuddy asked the girls as she looked away from her computer.

"No," Hayden said smiling. "Remember that was the deal."

She smiled also as she turned her attention back to the computer screen.

"Girls, could you give me and your mother a second alone," Wilson said looking at the girls, "there's something I need to talk with her about."

This turned Cuddy's attention back to Wilson.

"You know Uncle Jimmy," Madison started, "we aren't little anymore. You can say what you have to say in front of us."

"No it's fine," Hayden said grabbing Madison's arm, "come find us when you finish." With that she started to walk out of the door.

"Nuh-uhn," Cuddy told them. "Don't even go into the hallway."

The girls complied, disappointedly and waited between the two sets of double doors at the entrance to the office.

"What happened? Is something wrong?" Cuddy asked, wondering what Wilson had to talk to her about.

"No. Nothing's wrong," he reassured her. "I talked to House today," he explained.

She just sat back in her chair looking at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I think you need to talk to him about the girls being here. It's really bothering him."

"Well I'm sorry," she said leaning forward again, "that sounds like a personal problem. They want to be here, and personally, I want them here. It will give me more time to spend with them, especially when I'm working late. Did he tell you to tell me this?" she said now getting defensive.

"No, no," Wilson quickly said in both their defense, seeing her reaction, "I didn't mean it was bothering him like that. Lisa, I think you should talk to him. I think he really wants to be in their lives."

"Well James," she said, "he knows where to find them. It's not like they are hiding. "

"You know Greg, he's never going to come out and say how he's really feeling."

"Again, that seems like a personal problem."

He sighed and sat down in a chair in front of her desk.

"Why won't you just talk to him about how he feels about them being here then?" He said offering an alternative.

They continued the conversation as the girls sat on the floor in the front section of the office.

Madison was sitting with her legs folded in front of her and her back against the wall, while Hayden was lying on her back onside of her with both her feet on the wall. She had balled up a piece of paper and was throwing it up in the air and catching it as if fell back down to her.

"So what do you think they're talking about?" Madison asked looking at her sister.

"I don't know Maddie," she said still playing with the paper, "probably something boring."

"Well I think they're talking about us…and him," she replied.

"Who's him?" Hayden said laughing at her.

"Well I don't know what to call him," she said, laughing a little too. "You know, our dad."

They were quiet for a few moments before Hayden spoke.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she had known this all along, but she didn't say it at first because she didn't want to upset Madison.

"What do you think they're saying about him?" Madison asked looking back at her.

"I don't know," she replied softly.

"Do you think he wants us here?"

She let out a sarcastic laugh before beginning, "Maddie, he wouldn't even tell that guy that we were his kids, of course he doesn't want us here. "

Madison thought about it for while before replying. "Yeah, you're probably right."

The room grew quiet for a little while.

"Are you okay?" Hayden asked Madison trying not to sound too down.  
She didn't answer, and sat their picking at the carpet. Hayden grabbed the paper out of the air and then nudged her, "Maddie?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," she paused before revealing what she was thinking. "Do you think it bothers Mom, you know, with him being here all the time?"

Hayden's face showed her new realization. She looked away from Madison and then back into the office into her mother's eyes. She was also looking at them with concern in her eyes. Madison followed her sister's gaze into their mother's office and saw she was also looking at them. Cuddy looked down towards the floor, trying not to let them see the worry in her eyes. Hayden looked up at the ceiling for a moment before beginning to throw the ball back in the air, as Madison rested her head against the wall looking up at the ceiling.

They had never thought about how working with him had affected their mother. After all, he had walked out on her too. He had left her to raise them on her own. Coming to a place everyday where you had to deal with the person you used to love and who you thought loved you, the person who broke her heart, and didn't even seem to care. They always knew she was a strong person, but they had just realized how strong. Hayden threw the ball higher, making herself concentrate on it more, trying to abandon her current thoughts. They knew that it had to hurt, but she hid it for them. They were pulled from their thoughts when Cuddy grabbed the ball out of the air.

"Back in my office, "Cuddy said looking down at them.

Both girls got up and went back into the larger part of the office.

"Must be another genetic habit," Wilson said smiling at her and nodding to the paper ball in her hand before he left.


	7. Chapter 7

The doors of the elevator were about to close shut when she saw a cane slide into it to keep it from closing.

"Oh, look," he said when he saw she was on the elevator, "it's the boss that's full of surprises."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Oh look, it's the doctor that's full of Vicodin."

"People see the cane, they expect the Vicodin," he told her, still holding the elevator door open.

"No, people see the cane and expect the limp. They see the insane doctor and expect the Vicodin," she corrected him.

"But either way, they expect the Vicodin," he said stepping onto the elevator.

"Is there something you need to get off of your chest, House?" She asked him.

"Trying to see if I need to expect anymore personal distractions, that's all."

"Hmm, that's funny," she said looking at him, "I thought you actually had to think about something for it to be a distraction."

He just looked at her, not knowing what to say. Luckily the elevator doors opened and Wilson was standing there. She rolled her eyes at him, making him look down towards the floor.

"Should, I catch the next elevator?" Wilson asked looking at them suspiciously.

"No, don't be silly," House said sarcastically. "There's plenty of room, I mean Cuddy's ass isn't that big."

She looked at him and decided not to answer, but he could tell that she wasn't upset about their previous discussion anymore. Wilson stepped onto the elevator and stood between them.

"So how was your weekend?" he asked looking towards Cuddy.

"Does what I did not matter?" House asked making them both look at him.

"House you do the same thing every weekend…" Wilson informed him.

"Nobody wants to hear about your new hooker," she added.

Wilson looked back to Cuddy as she started to tell him about her weekend.

"My weekend was good," she told him before a huge smile came across her face, making House pay more attention to the conversation. "This popular ballet instructor came to the girls' ballet class this weekend, he's apparently known around the world. He told Hayden that he thought she should be the soloist in her age group this year."

"Wow that's great," Wilson said knowing House was listening to everything they were saying.

"Yeah, they were so excited," she said laughing a little. "I had to take them off of punishment for a little while so we could celebrate. It's still up to their instructor and she isn't going to choose for another few months, but I think she's going to get it."

"Well tell her I said congratulations," he told her as the elevator door opened.

She told him she would as she stepped out of the elevator. Wilson looked over to House with a big smile on his face.

"You know you look like an idiot with that stupid grin on your face, but you look like an idiot without it too," House said trying to change the subject.

"Aww, your own little Prima Ballerina," Wilson said ignoring him. "You must be so proud."

House felt a smile coming to his face, so he looked away to try and hide it from Wilson. He had no retort, because he did feel a little pride in his heart. He didn't know how that could be, having seen his kids for the first time in years a few days ago.

"I told you," Wilson said stepping off of the elevator turning to face him before the doors close, "no matter what you do, you are still their father."

* * *

He walked out of the exam room and popped two Vicodins. He started to fill out the papers and the chart and decided to take a nap after he finished. Cameron walked up to him.

"Hey, don't see you around much anymore," she said trying to make small talk.

"I thought that was the point of your resignation," he said not looking up from the papers.

"That's not why I resigned," she said.

He looked at her studying her for a while, before continuing. "I don't see a chart in your hands, so you don't have a case for me. So that means you're here for personal reasons. What's the matter? Jealous because I've got another woman analyzing my white board?"

She rolled her eyes at him and decided to ask the question she had originally came over to ask.

"How come you never told us you had kids?" she asked.

"Oh I see," he said,"you're jealous because I _had_ another woman analyzing my white board."

"We worked with you for three years and never knew you had kids," she began, "I just find that odd."

"Com'on," he said looking up from the papers finally, "you mean to tell me you and the rest of the mod squad couldn't figure that out. I mean I never told you I had an infarction in my leg, but somehow you deduced that."

He closed the file and walked away headed to his office. He walked in to find his team sitting at the table. He didn't see any papers, so he knew they didn't have a case.

"Why aren't you doing your jobs?" he asked looking at them.

"Why aren't you doing your job?" Thirteen returned.

"Because I thought you all were doing your jobs, that would make it less obvious that I wasn't doing my job. And that meant that the big bad she-wolf wouldn't come and blow my office down while I'm asleep."

"Speaking of Cuddy," Foreman said with a smirk growing on his face, "what happened between you and her?"

"Thirteen, could you tell Foreman about the birds and the bees," he said. "Make sure it's about the birds _AND _the bees, and not just two birds or two bees."

He then turned to walk out of his office.

"Where are you going?" Thirteen asked.

"Somewhere you aren't," he said leaving out of the door.

* * *

He woke when he felt the machine come on and begin to slide him out. The first thing he saw was a pair of piercing blue-gray eyes staring down at him.

"Why are you asleep in the MRI machine?" Cuddy asked him still standing over him.

"I needed to check my dreams for cancerous thoughts," he said sitting up.

"You are supposed to be in clinic," she told him.

"I got bored," he said, getting off of the machine and walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To lunch," he said as if it was obvious.

"No, you are not," she told him walking over to him. "You just got here two hours ago."

"What? Do you watch the door waiting for me to walk through it?" he asked sarcastically.

"Something like that," she told him "It helps me schedule my migraine."

She handed him the file she had walked into the room with.

"I am going to lunch, you have a case. Try not to detach anything that's vital from anyone while I'm gone," she said walking out of the room.

He looked through the file deciding if he wanted to keep it or not. He decided it was interesting enough and went off to find the rest of his team. He was about to walk into the clinic when he saw Cuddy coming off of the elevator with a huge smile on her face. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw here wrap her arms around what seemed to be her lunch date. They pulled back a little from their embrace, but her hands where on his chest and he still had his arms wrapped around her waist. He told her something the made her laugh a little, then took her hand and they walked out of the hospital. She was actually taking a lunch break outside of the hospital with someone who wasn't a donor. He stared as he felt a twinge of jealousy creep up inside him. When he realized he had been staring at them the whole time, he turned to enter into the clinic, but was held where he stood by a smirking Wilson and Kutner.

"What are you two looking at?" he asked trying to hold his serious face, feeling a little embarrassed.

They just smiled knowingly.

"Go find idiots 2 and 3 and the used to be idiot and meet me in my office," he said still trying to hold on to his serious face.

Kutner walked away trying to figure out if being idiot 1 was a compliment or an insult. House looked at Wilson still trying to seem serious, then he turned to go to his office. Wilson followed.

"I don't understand why you don't just talk to her," he asked as they walked onto the elevator.

"I did talk to her," he said, "she just woke me up from my nap."

"You two never really talked about the split," Wilson told him."It's natural for you to be bothered by her dating another man."

"I'm not bothered by it," he said getting a little defensive.

"Besides, he won't last. I give him a month at most before she dumps him or he makes a run for it."

"I don't know," Wilson said. "They've already been dating for five months."

House just looked at Wilson, trying to figure out how he had missed this one. He knew just about everything there was to know about her. They had broken up years ago, but he could still read her better than he could anyone else. He knew all of her habits and gestures and the meanings behind them, at least he thought until recently. He dug into his pocket and took out his bottle of pills, and placed two in his mouth. The elevator doors opened and he got off walking towards his office. As long as he could read her moves, he felt like he was still close to her. He could pretend that much hadn't changed between them. But seeing the girls again and seeing her go out on a date with a guy that she had actually made a successful effort to hide from him made him feel like he was loosing her, and for some reason, that scared him.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys...keep'em coming.**


	8. Chapter 8

The next two weeks went by as usual at the hospital. Hayden and Madison were now on Christmas break. They were supposed to be grounded half of the break, but they made a deal that they would volunteer around the hospital in exchange for getting off of punishment earlier. It was still a little early and the hospital wasn't as busy and populated as it usually was. They were walking around the hospital and came across an office with a name on the door they recognized.

"Look Hayden," Madison said looking up at the name on the door before beginning to read it. " Gregory House M.D."

Hayden stood there and looked into the office before noticing a guitar pick on one of the shelves. She pulled on the door and found it was locked.

"Give me you're hairpin," she told Madison.

"For what?" She asked now looking at her sister.

"I wanna see if there's a guitar in there," she said pointing to the pick.

"You're gonna break into his office?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, now give it to me," she said holding out her hand.  
The younger girl just sighed and handed her sister her hair pin. Hayden bent down to try to pick the lock on the door.

"Hayden, someone's gonna see you," she said looking at the nurses coming down the hall. "Aww man, we're supposed to be getting out of trouble."

"Shut up Madison," Hayden replied with her attention still focused on picking the lock. "Stop freaking out, you're gonna draw attention to us."

"Yeah, I'm going to draw attention to us, not the fact that you're picking a lock trying get into a room we aren't even supposed to be in."

"If you would shut up I could do this quicker," Hayden retorted.

Madison stood there hoping Hayden would hurry up and get the door open or better, decide not to break in at all. She was looking at Hayden trying to pick the lock, when she noticed a tall figure walking up to them. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the cane and she almost froze in horror when she looked up to find a pair of confused and or angry baby blues that mirrored her own walking towards them.

"Hayden," she said just above a whisper watching him get closer to them.

"What Madison?" she replied through clenched teeth, still trying to pick the lock.

By now House was standing over them looking from one girl to the other. Madison didn't respond she just tapped Hayden on her shoulder.

"What?" she asked disgusted, finally taking her attention away from the lock and turning to face her sister. Madison just pointed behind her and she turned to find House looking down at her. She hurried to her feet and took a step back.

"Hey," she said looking at him trying to see if he was angry. He just stood and stared at her. "What are you doing here?"

"This is my office," he said not changing his facial expression. "As if you didn't know," he said nodding towards his name on the door.

"Sorry about trying to break in," she said shyly, "please don't tell mom."

Without saying a word, he unlocked the door and walked in leaving them standing there in the hallway. The girls looked at each other relieved that he didn't get angry and go barging over to tell their mother.

"Well that was close," Hayden said before turning to grab the handle on the door.

Madison stopped her by grabbing her other arm. "What are you doing? Lets get out of here."

"No, I wanna see if he has a guitar," she said trying to pull her arm away from Madison. She held on tight and stopped her once more.

"Are you crazy? If Mom finds out she's going to ground us for a year."

"Relax," Hayden said looking at House who was now sitting at his desk reading the paper. "He won't tell her."

This time she managed to pull her arm away from Madison and entered his office. Madison felt she had no other choice but to follow. They decided to look around in the part of the office he wasn't in first. He had seen them come in and placed his paper on the desk. He was now listening to them as they rummaged around in the other room. It wasn't long before he heard them start to talk again.

"He doesn't have one now lets go," Madison said turning to leave.

"No, I wanna know why he has the pick if he doesn't have a guitar," Hayden said walking towards the other room. His eyes immediately went to the pick on the shelf across from him.

"You can't be serious," he heard Madison say, as he looked over to the door to see his oldest daughter standing there.

"Well you're an ambitious little delinquent, aren't you," he said looking at her.

"Do you have a guitar?" she asked, ignoring his comment and surveying the room, before looking back at him.

"Why don't you just break into my house and find out?" he said as he saw Madison enter the room standing slightly behind her sister.

Again, she ignored him and walked into the room to pick up the guitar pick. This made Madison come a little further into the room. She kept her eyes on him the whole time.

"You have to have a guitar," she continued. "Why would you have a pick without a guitar?"  
She picked it up and observed it.

"I guess the same reason you would have a lock with without a key, " he told her, referring to the little incident.

"Look Maddie," she said ignoring him and handing the pick to her sister, "It's just like ours."

He smiled at hearing this, but quickly hid it so that none of the girls saw. He was surprised and happy to hear that the girls still had the picks that he had given them before he left. He thought by now they would have thrown them away or lost them. They had loved to listen to him play the piano and the guitar when they were little. He had bought a pack of guitar picks with three identical picks in them. He had taken two out and tied both to a small ribbon, before giving them to the girls as keepsakes.

"Why do you still have it?" Hayden asked sitting down in the chair across from his desk.

He watched her as she put her feet on the ottoman and laid back in the chair.

"Why do you still have yours?" he asked.

"I asked first," she retorted.

"Mom keeps them in a box for us," Madison said jumping in, getting anxious at seeing the power struggle that was unfolding in front of her. "We each have our own box that we keep cool or important things in."

They both just looked at her, making her look down to the floor. But Hayden just couldn't let it go.

"Yeah, stuff from our past." It grew silent for a while.

"Oh look, we have company," Madison said overly eager and relieved at seeing some other people in the room. Kutner and Thirteen walked into the other side of the office. The girls got up and went to greet them.

"Oh, hello," Thirteen said realizing that they were there.

The girls introduced themselves and tried to start a conversation. This made House uncomfortable. He didn't want these two getting information to use against him. He had accepted the idea of the girls being at the hospital, but in no way was he comfortable with it.

"Don't you girls have somewhere to be?" he asked looking at them. "We wouldn't want Cuddy to find out about your little criminal escapades now would we?"

The girls reluctantly left after he issued this threat.

"Why'd you make them leave?" Kutner asked.

"Because, I don't want them around you," he said walking towards the door.

"Well you're their father, what more damage could we cause?" Thirteen asked.

"Good point," he retorted before leaving.

He walked down to the clinic, actually deciding to do his clinic hours today. This to him was the safest place to hide out from the two intruders. He thought about the guitar pick and Madison asking Cuddy to give back their guitars. That must have meant that they were still enjoyed the instrument as much as they did last time he saw them. He would spend hours playing for them and teaching them how to play. This was one of the ways he bonded with them as kids. He couldn't help but to feel happy at the thought of them still loving to play the guitar. It seemed to be something that made them happy. At least he had given them something good. 'How mean of Cuddy to take their guitars away' he thought.

* * *

It was now around lunch time and the girls where headed back to Cuddy's office to do their lunch time check in. When they walked into the office they saw her getting ready to go.

"Where are you going?" Hayden asked flopping down on a chair in front of her desk and throwing her legs across the arm.

"I have a lunch date," she said, gathering the scattered papers on her desk. "Wilson will look after you guys while I'm gone, so no funny business."

She was hesitant to leave Wilson in charge of the girls while she stepped out. She had already asked him to keep an eye on House and to call her the minute he hinted at doing something crazy. She felt bad about giving him the responsibility of looking after three trouble making teens, one in a grown man's body with too much authority, but he assured her he could keep the girls out of trouble and keep an eye on House at the same time.

"With who?" Madison asked sounding a little annoyed as she sat in the other chair.

"You know who," she said glancing up at her.

"No, we don't," Hayden said sternly, staring at her.

"Yes, you do," she said with an even sterner tone.

"Why do you go out with him?" Madison asked her.

"Because I like him," she said simply.

"We don't," the girl returned.

"Well why don't you like him Madison?" she asked sympathetically.

"The guy's a douche bag," Hayden volunteered.

"Watch your mouth," she warned her.

"He just doesn't seem like your type," Madison explained.

"Yeah, everything has to be so perfect with him. He's so anal," Hayden added. "He's definitely not you're type."

"Was that supposed to be a compliment to me or an insult?" Cuddy asked. "Because you said it like it was supposed to be a compliment, but I somehow feel insulted."

"All we're saying is you're too good for him," Hayden said as Cuddy started to put on her coat.

She turned and looked at the girls.

"Yeah," Madison chimed in, "you're fun and we love like you are, and he's a little pushy. We just don't want him to come in and change things, because we like'em the way they are."

Cuddy looked at the girls and smiled.

"Yeah, we love you the way you are, flaws and all. All of your flaws," Hayden added, the moment being a little too sappy for her. "Every. last. single. one."

Cuddy laughed and held out her arms to hug the girls. She promised them nothing would change and that she would always love them and let no one come between them. She kissed them goodbye and went to meet Brian, her date, at a local restaurant.


	9. Chapter 9

House had seen her leave out of the hospital and concluded from the smile on her face that she was going out to meet the guy she had went to lunch with the last time. He headed back to his office to check in on his patient and the new findings. On his way there, he came up with a plan to cut her date short and make her come back to the hospital. After finding out that his patient was losing all sensation in his right leg, he decided to put his plan into motion.

"Lets chop it off," he said enthused, turning away from the board.

"What?" Taub asked caught off guard. "Why?"

"House, we can't just go around chopping off body parts that don't work any more," Foreman said.

He ignored them all and told them to go prep the patient for surgery while he got Cuddy's consent. They did as they were told, knowing that Cuddy wouldn't allow the surgery. After they had all cleared the office, he took out his cell phone and dialed her number. She didn't answer. He dialed a few more times and she didn't answer. He knew exactly who to talk to in order to get in touch with her.

The girls were setting in Wilson's office just talking. He was sitting at his desk, joining in on the conversation every now and then. The door flew open and all three of them looked up to see House standing there with a determined look on his face.

"I need a second opinion," he said, "and the person whose supposed to give it to me isn't here. "

"Well what is it?" Wilson asked fearing the answer.

"I need to cut off a patient's leg?"

"Well I can't give you permission to do that," Wilson said. "Wait, until Cuddy gets back."

"By then he could be a paraplegic or a quadriplegic," House said over exaggerating. "Aw what the hell, I'll just cut it off anyways."  
With that he turned and left the office. Wilson called after him, but he ignored him and kept walking. Wilson quickly picked up the phone and paged Cuddy. He left a message that said 'Get here asap, please.' Wilson ran out of his office calling after House.

"You can't just cut a guy's leg off," he said walking out the door.

The girls just looked at each other with wide eyes and grins growing on their faces. They too got up and quickly left the office following behind Wilson and House.

She was now on her way back to the hospital. She didn't know how big of a mess to suspect, and she braced herself as she walked into the front of the hospital. She got to her office and she could see Chase, Wilson, and House through the glass doors and the girls standing up just looking at them with their backs turned to the door. They turned around when she opened the door and quickly got out of her way when they saw the expression on her face.

"I didn't do anything this time," Hayden said holding up her hands.

"Don't look at me," Madison said clearing herself also.

She looked over at House sitting behind her desk. He was twirling his cane and had a smug grin on his face.

"Wow, that was a fast lunch break," he said.

"What did you do?" she asked him, knowing he was the reason she had to cut her date short.

"He wants me to cut a guy's leg off," Chase informed her.

"Why?" She asked disgusted and confused.

"Because it's not working anymore," House said casually.

"Why isn't it working?" she asked.

"Don't know," he replied nonchalantly.

"House, you can't cut a patient's leg off unless you have a valid reason to do so," she told him.

"I just told you it's not working."

"You need a better reason than that," she said walking over to the desk, "and until you can find it, his leg stays intact."

He just looked at her before getting up from her chair.

"Well I guess the leg stays," he said seemingly satisfied as he walked towards the door.

She looked at him confused as he left. She turned to Chase who just shook his head and left behind him. She looked at Wilson.

"I'm sorry about that," he said before leaving the room.

"Wow, he's good," Madison said as her and Hayden headed back to the pediatric ward.

Cuddy stood in the middle of her empty office, wondering how her lunch with Brian had gotten so urgently disrupted for a problem that wasn't even a problem. And why did House take no for an answer so easily this time? It all started with House. Why would he cause such a commotion,other than the fact that he was House, but he wasn't bothered by her telling him no. She sat down behind her desk still trying to figure out exactly what happened. She could only come up with one possible answer. House had known that she was out with Brian and wanted to interrupt their date. But why? Was he jealous or was he getting back at her for bringing the girls to the hospital. She decided to go with the latter idea, since the former seemed absolutely crazy to her. Not that he had never interrupted her dates before, but after recent events she would have thought that he would have laid off a little. Her phone rang, shaking her from her thoughts, it was Brian.

"Hello," she said into the receiver.

"Hey babe is everything okay?" he said sounding concerned. "Are the girls okay?"

"The girls are fine," she said smiling, "sorry I had to cut our lunch short."

"It's no big deal," he told her. "What was the problem?"

"The psycho doctor I told you about," she waited for him to confirm, "he wanted to cut a patient's leg off for no reason."

"If this guy is a problem, why don't you just fire him?" he asked confused.

"Because he's good," she said reluctantly, "he just needs someone to keep him in line."

"Well I'm glad everything's okay," he started, "call me when you get off from work. If it isn't too late, I'll drop by. "

"Okay," she replied before saying goodbye.

She hung up the phone and sat back with a huge smile on her face. She really liked Brian and she could tell he really liked her. He also liked and took interest in the girls well being. Sometimes he would take them all out to dinner or to the movies or bowling. The girls didn't care for Brian and they made it known. She admired the way he stayed through it all. He didn't have any kids and thought he would not want to be in a relationship with her after he found out about the girls, especially after they treated him so rudely. He said he understood and actually made a bigger effort to get to know them more. The girls had started to respect him a little more, mostly due to her fussing them about being so mean, but a lot of it had to do with his relentlessness. She knew they would come around and accept him and possibly even like him. She turned her attention back to her work, wanting to finish early so she could invite him over.

He was in his office watching his portable television when they walked in. He took his attention away from the television and just looked at them. The youngest started to go through his shelves until she spotted a red and gray ball on the floor. She picked it up and started to toss it up in the air. She noticed him looking at her and gave him a smile before continuing to toss the ball. He looked at the oldest that had sat in the chair across from him as she stared at him, seemingly studying him.

"Why do you like annoying her so much?" she asked still staring at him.

"Aren't you supposed to be som-," he started but was interrupted.

"We got lost," she said leaning forward in her chair, still waiting on an answer.

"I don't annoy her, you two annoy her."

"We don't annoy her," Madison said sounding a little offended, "we just make her freak out…a lot."

"Why are you avoiding the question?" Hayden asked him again.

"Why are you asking the question?"

"I wanna know," she told him.

"I don't want you to know."

She squinted her eyes as if studying him again.

"I don't know why you do it," she began, "but you're good at it."

It was a compliment. Not many people could get her mother riled up, and Hayden knew it. In fact three of the very few people she knew that were consistently effective at it were in the room. She watched as he pulled out his vicodin bottle and placed a pill in his mouth.

"Do you do drugs?" Madison asked leaning on his desk.

"It's pain medicine," he told her.

"Does it hurt badly?" she asked glancing at his leg before looking into his eyes.

He looked over at Hayden who was staring at him waiting for him to answer the question also.

"No," he lied, after seeing what he believed to be a little concern in both their eyes. The room grew silent as they both just stared at him with questioning and sympathetic eyes. It was as if they were waiting for him to tell them a story, his story, about what had happened after he had walked out of their lives and why he had left. He was suddenly looking into the eyes of his five year old and his three year old again. He felt his heart growing soft, they always made him feel this way. He wanted to open up to them and tell them what went on, but he fought this urge. He wanted to hold them and let them know that he loved them, but he felt he would only be hurting them. Hayden's phone rang shaking them all from their thoughts.

"Hello?" she said answering it. "Okay, bye."

"Com'on Maddie lets go," she said softly, "mom's waiting for us."

They both left the office without another word being spoken. He turned off the television, no longer interested in it and sat there in his empty office, alone with his thoughts.


	10. Chapter 10

She walked into the kitchen setting the grocery bags down on the counter. The girls walked in behind her and did the same with their bags. She started to go through them and put away the things that needed to be refrigerated or frozen, while they started grabbing the items they had bought to make cookies. After she had put everything cold away, she took her shoes off and started to walk out of the kitchen.

"Brian's coming over," she started, "I'm going upstairs to take a shower and change, if he knocks let him in."

The girls screwed their faces up and looked at each other as she left the room. She went upstairs, showered, and changed. She raced down stairs after hearing a constant knocking on the door. She opened the door to find Brian standing there with two pizza boxes. She hugged him and moved aside to let him in.

"The pizza might be cold," he offered. "I've been knocking forever. I heard the television on so I knew someone was home."

"I told the girls to let you in," she said taking the pizza and walking towards the kitchen.

She walked into the kitchen to find Hayden mixing the cookie dough at the kitchen island and Madison sitting on a stool on side of her eating the left over chocolate chips. They both were listening to their iPods and didn't notice them walk in. She knew they had done this on purpose. She sat the pizza boxes on the table and proceeded to take the earphones out of both of their ears. This made them look up to see her standing there with her hands on her hips and Brian standing behind her.

"What?" Hayden asked innocently.

"I thought I told you to listen for Brian," she told them.

"Oh, yeah, we forgot," Madison said. "Sorry."  
She shook her head and started to put the rest of the groceries up.

"Hi guys," Brian said standing on the other side of the island.

"Heeey, Brian," Hayden said trying to sound enthused, but you could hear it was forced.  
Madison just nodded.

"What are you guys making?" he asked trying to spark up a conversation.

"Cookies," Hayden replied still trying to sound enthused.

He just stood there not sure what to say next. Cuddy sensed his nervousness and decided to join in on the conversation.

"You have a good day at work?" she asked looking over at him.

"Yeah," he replied before proceeding to tell her about his day at work. He had been talking a while and the girls were growing tired of him.

"What exactly do you do Brian?" Madison asked placing her hand under her chin.

"I own my own construction company. We're about to branch out into some other states," he began about to go into another conversation.

"So you're a business man?" Madison asked, cutting him off, not wanting to hear another one of his extensive rants.

"Yeah, but that came in later. I actually started out as a construction worker, so I picked up on the business part gradually. But I'm an original tool man, can't you tell?" he said smiling.

"Yes Brian," Hayden began looking at the cookie dough that was now ready to go into the oven, "you are a tool."

"Hayden!" Cuddy said turning around to face them. "I'm sorry," she told Brian, apologetically.

"It's okay. I've kinda gotten used to it over the last few months," he said looking at Hayden then Madison.

Madison just gave him a weak, sarcastic smile. Cuddy decided that this was as much bonding as the girls were capable of in one sitting and decided to rescue Brian. She grabbed the cheese pizza and asked him to join her in the living room to watch television, while the girls finished baking their cookies.

* * *

Over at House's apartment he was playing his guitar, trying to forget about that day and all of the old feelings that he had locked away that had suddenly started to resurface again. He looked at the clock and saw it was getting late. He threw away the left over take out and popped two vicodins. He looked over at the guitar, and decided to call Wilson.

"Hey pick me up tomorrow morning on your way in," he told him.

"Alright," Wilson complied. "Be ready for 8:30."

"Make it 10:30," House said, before hanging up without giving Wilson a chance to respond.

He walked over to the guitar and put it in its case so he could take it to work with him the next day.

* * *

"Where the hell have you two been?" Cuddy asked as they walked into the hospital the next day.

"Good morning," Wilson said as House just stood and looked at her like she was crazy.

"Foreman has been trying to get in touch with you all morning, and I've been waiting on you to start the meeting," she began.

"I'm sorry, I was going to be here on time, but I had to wait on him," Wilson said pointing to House.

She then looked to him for an explanation.

"Don't look at me," he said sounding like a little boy, "I'm actually early today."

She shook her head in disbelief before walking to the elevator with Wilson close behind her. Before House could follow he heard Foreman calling his name.

"He's getting worse. He's now lost sensation in his right arm also," Foreman informed him.

"Round up the rest of the circus crew and meet me in my office," he replied.

Foreman gave him a disapproving look before going to get the others. He got on the next elevator and headed to his office. He gently placed the guitar in the corner next to his desk, visible to anyone who stopped to look into the office. He saw Foreman coming down the hall followed by the others and went to go meet them in the other room of his office. They needed to find out what was wrong with the patient, and they needed find out quickly unless he was going to die from respiratory failure.

* * *

"What's taking her so long?" Madison asked looking out of the window as the snow began to fall again.

"I don't know," Hayden replied before letting her head drop to the desk, defeated by boredom.

They were in the last few minutes of day light and Cuddy was still in a meeting. She had had multiple meetings that day, but had to push all of them back because of Wilson being late for the first one. This meant she would be getting out of the hospital even later than she had planned. The hospital was almost empty except for the in patients, the night shift nurses, the few doctors that had to be there, and the emergency room.

"This sucks," Madison said frustrated.

Just then one of the nurses stuck her head into the office.

"Hey guys," she began, "you're mom told me to tell you she will be at least another hour."

They just looked at her in disbelief as she closed the door and left.

"I can't believe this," Madison getting up and beginning to pace the room.

Hayden just watched her for a moment before getting up from her seat.  
"Com'on," she said.

"Where are we going?"

"Don't know," she replied pushing open the office door. "I've gotta get out of this office, the walls are starting to close in on me."

With that they both exited the office and wandered aimlessly through the hospital before coming to a familiar office. All the lights were off so the only light illuminating the office was coming from the hallway. Hayden's eyes quickly came to rest upon an object sitting in a corner of the office, close to the desk.

"Cool," she said pulling on the handle to open the door.

This time Madison followed without protest. Hayden picked up the guitar and played a chord. The girls looked at each other and smiled. They had just found their entertainment for the rest of the night.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

He had finished his case about an half hour ago, and the rest of the team had gone home. He was now on his way to his office to get his things so he could catch a cab home. He had told Wilson to go ahead without him, because he didn't know how long it would take to solve the case. He slowed his footsteps when he heard soft music and laughter coming from his office. He smiled to himself knowing exactly who was in his office. He hadn't seen or heard from them all day, and surprisingly, he was looking forward to seeing them. He entered into his office without them noticing and sat down and watched them. They were lying on the floor on their backs, head to head, with their feet pointing in opposite directions. They were taking turns playing the guitar, singing songs they already knew, making up silly ones, and trading jokes. He had been in the room for a while without them knowing. He admired how well they played the guitar and they could even hold a tune. He even laughed quietly at some of their jokes.

"Oh, I got one," Madison said as Hayden paused for her to continue.

"A bottle of laundry detergent eleven dollars. Pine wood floors, thirty thousand dollars. A GE washer, twelve hundred dollars. The look on mom's face when she saw all of the suds, Priceless."

The girls started to laugh and he smiled at the thought.

"Okay, okay," Hayden said trying to control her laughter. "It's your turn to pick a song."

Madison thought for a little while before replying, "Battle."

Hayden shifted uncomfortably, and he could see from the light from the hallway that her facial expression had now changed. Both of the girls seemed uncomfortable and this made him pay closer attention.

"Pick another song Maddie," Hayden told her almost pleading.

"No," she said softly. "I wanna hear that one. We haven't played it in a while, and I like the way you sing it."

Hayden didn't say anything.

"Com'on. I'll sing the second verse," Madison replied with a faint smile.

Hayden looked down at the guitar and traced a small part of its outline before she began to play the guitar. He leaned forward in his chair as she began to sing.

"You thought we'd be fine  
All these years gone by  
Now you're asking me to listen, well then tell me about everything  
No lies we're losing time.  
Cause this is a battle and it's your final last call  
It was a trial, you made a mistake, we know  
But why aren't you sorry, why aren't you sorry, why?  
This can be better, you used to be happy, try."

His eyes grew wide and he looked down at the floor. He now knew why they had seemed so rattled by this song choice. He watched as Madison rolled over on her stomach, propped herself up on her elbows and started to run her fingers through her sister's hair. Hayden closed her eyes as Madison started to sing.

"You've got them on your side  
They won't change their minds  
Now it's over and I'm feeling like you missed out on everything  
I just hope it's worth the fight."

He felt the pain in his heart grow even sharper as Hayden opened her eyes and began to sing a long with Madison.

"Cause this is a battle and it's your final last call (Why'd you have to let it go?)  
It was a trial, you made a mistake we know (Can't you see you've hurt me so?)  
But why aren't you sorry, why aren't you sorry, why?  
Things could get better, you can be happy, try."

He didn't know what to say or do, he now saw the pain that they were in. He thought that by him leaving he had made things better for them, but now he wondered if he had only made things worst. He got up to leave, but knocked his cane over as he did. He thought they hadn't heard him because he could still hear the guitar, but when he looked up from picking up the cane he saw Madison staring at him. It was now his turn to be frozen in fear. Hayden hadn't heard him and continued to play the guitar and sing with her eyes closed as Madison kept her eyes on him the whole time.

"Cause this is a battle and it's your final last call  
It was trial, you made a mistake, we know  
But why aren't you sorry, why aren't you sorry, why?  
This can be better, we can be happy, try."

He looked away from her and quietly got up and left. Unaware that Madison would be soon to follow. She began to get up off of the floor, making Hayden stop playing.

"Where are you going?" she asked her.

"Uhm, I gotta use the bathroom," she said, knowing House didn't want her to know that he was there. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

She left out of the door to find him limping down the hallway. She took a few steps behind him and stopped when Hayden could no longer see her through the glass front of the office.

"Hey," she called out to him, knowing he heard her following him.  
He stopped and paused for a second before turning around to face her.

* * *

**Disclaimer: The song used in this part is called Battle and it's by Colbie Caillat.**

**A/N: Thanks for the comments guys, and that is a pretty cool scenerio. Might use it for the sequel if I decide to write one.**


	11. Chapter 11

They stood there staring at each other for a few moments before she spoke again.

"We don't," she paused for a little while before she began again. "We don't hate you, you know."

He just looked down at the floor, relieved to hear this, but not sure of what to say next. She started again.

"I mean, I don't hate you."

He looked at her as she twiddled her fingers nervously at her sides.

"I know it may seem like Hayden hates you sometimes," she said rolling her eyes tiredly at the thought of her sister, "but she doesn't. That's just her, that's how she deals. And mom," she paused again and looked down at the floor. This made him look into her face. She looked up again to meet his eyes. "I don't think she hates you," she said shaking her head.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him by urgently speaking again, as if she was rushing the words out while she still had the courage to ask them.

"Do you hate us?"

The look she gave him broke his heart. He stood trying to stable himself emotionally and mentally, trying not to let himself break, before he answered her.

"Of course, I don't. I just…," he looked down at the floor trying to find the words to finish his sentence, but he couldn't find them, but he didn't need to. By now Madison had made her way over to him, she didn't give him time to do or say anything before embracing him. He did the only thing he could, the thing he wanted to do since he had seen them that day in Cuddy's office. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. She looked up at him and smiled, still holding on tight to him.

* * *

She was walking through the hospital halls searching for the two girls so they could head home. It was getting late, and she was tired from schmoozing board members and donors all day. She had called their phones when she was in her office, but when she called them she heard them both ringing in the same room with her. She turned the corner and before she could register what she was seeing, she had already begun to speak.

"Mad-," she stopped when she saw the sight in front of her.  
The girl turned around and looked at her with the biggest smile on her face. She looked from her to him. He was just standing there, not sure of what to do or say. The look on her face was one of shock, fear, and confusion. They let go of each other and Madison walked towards her.

"Hey mom," Madison said as if nothing unusual had happened.

She looked towards the floor before speaking to her. "Baby, go get your sister. We're leaving."

The girl looked back at House, then back at Cuddy, before disappearing into the office. He started to speak, but she held up her hand stopping him.

"Don't" she stopped before beginning again. "Just don't hurt them, please."

He nodded his head and looked back towards the floor.

"About time," Hayden said walking out of the office. She noticed the concern look on her mother's face. She then looked at House and furrowed her brow in confusion. She decided not to say anything, not being sure of what had just happened.

"Com'on," Cuddy told them, trying to sound unshaken, as they all turned to walk away. "Let's go get your things so we can get out of here."

Madison waved at him before the three of them disappeared around the corner. He stood there for a moment, going over everything that had just happened. He went back in his office to get his jacket and his back pack. He locked the door, leaving the guitar behind, just in case Cuddy had another late night at the hospital.

* * *

"I am waking you guys up early in the morning and you will get up, so you might want to get to bed," Cuddy said leaning on the door frame to Madison's room.

"We'll get up," Hayden said flipping through a magazine, with the cell phone between her ear and shoulder.

"Yeah, that's what you said the last few nights," she said stepping into the room. "I have a lot of catching up to do at work, so I can't afford to be late again. Go to bed."

The girls rolled their eyes as Hayden got up to go to her room.

"I'll talk to you later Logan," she said into the receiver of the phone. "Good night, _Mom_," she said with a forced smile, stressing the last word to show her frustration.

"Good night, Hayden," she said before turning back to Madison.

"I'm turning it off," Madison said closing the laptop and placing it on the night stand.

"Good night, Maddie," Cuddy said turning to leave the room.

"Mom," Maddie said just as she was about to turn off the lights.  
Cuddy just turned to look at her.

"Are you mad at me?"

"For what sweetie?" she asked walking back into the room.

"Talking to Dad," she said shyly.

"No," she began, "no, I'm not mad at you. Why would you think I'm mad at you?"

"Because you looked mad."

"No I wasn't mad," she said, "I just wasn't expecting to see you two talking."

She paused before beginning again "I told him you didn't hate him."

"I don't," she said, "he drives me a little crazy at times, but I don't hate him."

They smiled at each other.

"Good night," Madison said.

"Good night," Cuddy returned, turning off the light as she left the room.

* * *

"I'm with a patient," Wilson said as House lied down on the sofa in his office.

"It's okay, I'll wait," he said looking up at the ceiling.

The patient just stared at him before looking back to Wilson.

"I'm sorry about this," Wilson said to the woman smiling. "You're next appointment will be two weeks from now. If you have any questions in the mean time, please feel free to call."

He got up to show the patient out. She just stared at House before turning to Wilson.

"A patient?" she asked.

"No, a friend," he replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she told him.  
He just nodded in agreement as he closed the door behind her.

"You can't keep barging into my office like that when I have patients," he said sitting in the chair behind his desk.

"They don't seem to mind," said House sitting up on the sofa.

"What do you want?"

"Are you buying lunch?"

"House, you don't come over to my office just to ask if I'm buying lunch," he began, "you never ask me if I'm buying lunch. You just grab a bunch of stuff and tell the cashier I'm paying. Now what do you want?"

"Well if it's a problem, you kno-"

"What happened?" he said cutting him off.

House just looked at him like he didn't know what he was talking about.

"Usually when you come into my office to avoid what you really want to talk about, I would assume that it has something to do with Cuddy," Wilson began, "but due to recent events I have two extra candidates to choose from. So, why don't you just save both of us the time and tell me what happened."

He just sat back on the sofa and looked at him.

"If you are going to walk back into their lives, just make sure you're there to stay," Wilson offered, making House look at him weird. "I know you have trouble with personal commitments, and I don-"

"What are you talking about?" House asked, trying to avoid talking about what he really went there to talk about.

"Cuddy told me what happened," Wilson let out after a deep sigh. "House its fine if you want to get to know your kids again, but you have to realize once you make that first effort it's not just about you anymore. And once you do get involved you cannot be the most important person to yourself anymore."

House just looked at him before getting up to leave.

"Well I'm glad you got that off your chest," he said reaching for the doorknob. "I could tell it was really bothering you. "

Wilson just shook his head as he watched the door close behind his friend.

* * *

It was now Friday evening and Cuddy was happy to have gotten through the rest of the week without having to deal with anymore crazy antics from House, other than him skipping clinic duty as usual. The hug that she had witnessed between him and Madison still plagued her mind though. She had mixed emotions about it. She knew what an asshole he had become, especially when it came to people and she didn't want them to have to deal with that. She had wanted to talk to him privately, but hadn't had a chance to since he was avoiding her in order to avoid doing his clinic hours. She had managed to catch up on enough of her work, and they were now on their way to a local restaurant to meet Brian for dinner. She had invited him to come out to celebrate Madison's birthday with them, with minimal protest from the girls.

* * *

House had already made it home after he had left a few hours early, since he had only been two hours late that morning. He was playing the piano and thinking about what Wilson had told him. He swirled the little bit of scotch he had left in the glass, before drinking it all in one swallow. He got up and slowly went over to the hall closet. He reached up to the top shelf and pulled out a small box from the back corner. He sat it on the table and opened it. He looked at all of the envelopes before pulling out the newest one. Across the front of the envelope in all capital letters was the name _'MADISON'_. He opened it and looked at the lilac and green birthday card that was inside. He stood there a few more minutes before placing the card and the envelope back into the box. He placed the box back on the top shelf and grabbed his jacket as he remembered the girls' conversation from the day before. _'We haven't been to Roma's in a while_.' He heard Hayden's voice echo in his head. He smiled to himself as he grabbed his keys and headed out of the door.

* * *

"This is as upscale as teenagers want to get," Cuddy whispered to Brian after he questioned why they didn't go to the new upscale restaurant that had just opened. "The food's good, you'll like it."

They entered the restaurant and were seated a short time later.

"So what's good?" Brian asked looking at the menu.

"I can't believe you've never been to Roma's." Madison told him.

"I'm sad to say, I've never had the pleasure," he said, trying to hold back the sarcasm.

Hayden just looked over the top of her menu at him, before she shook her head and let out a condescending laugh. Cuddy shot her a mean look and she raised the menu up, hiding her face completely. She didn't want him there and she wasn't about to try to hide it. A short time later the waiter came to take their orders. Brian was now going on with one of his stories that was boring everyone except Cuddy. All of a sudden, Cuddy saw Madison's eyes grow wide and a smile spread across her face. She started waving her hand as if she was trying to get someone's attention. She turned around to see House walking towards them with an evil smirk on his face. She grimaced before turning around and swallowing the rest of the wine that was in her glass. '_What the hell is he doing here?'_ she thought to herself. Madison nudged Hayden on the arm making her look up. She saw House and smiled.

"This is gonna be good," she said so low that only Madison could hear her.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for the comments, and just to let you guys know, when I post the next chapter I will change the rating to M. Just because of the language. **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Okay I was just going to change it to M so I wouldn't have to later, but I decided I'll just wait until an M rated part comes up to switch the rating. **

* * *

She closed her eyes and willed him to go away. All hopes of that happening left her as she heard him say her name.

"Cuddy," he said walking up to the table, she opened her eyes and looked at him, "I didn't know you could come out during full moons."

"Hello Greg," she said forcing a smile and intentionally saying his first name, ignoring his remark trying not to get him started in front of Brian.

He noticed that she had called him by his first name, and knew it was probably because she didn't want her friend to make the association between his last name and the girls'.

"Well what brings you here on this cold winter night?" Hayden said with the smile still plastered on her face.

"Oh, I always come by here. The people at the bar are really nice. They actually call someone to get the drunk people instead of calling the police to get them put into the drunk tank," he said pulling up a chair.

"If you don't mind," Cuddy began, "we are actually trying to have a nice dinner."

"Oh mom, don't be silly," Hayden began again, "this dinner just got a whole lot nicer."

Madison held back her laugh as she looked across the table at Cuddy's facial expression. She just turned her attention back to trying to get House to leave.

"Greg this is a special occasion," she began, but was cut off before she could continue.

"Well Lisa," he began in a mocking tone, "I'm sure the person whose occasion this is won't mind."

She just looked at him helplessly as he sat down in a chair he had pulled up between her and Hayden. She held her glass up to signal the waiter to bring her some more wine.

"By the way," he said turning to Madison, "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks," she said as her smile got even wider.

Hayden looked at Madison, they couldn't believe that he remembered. Cuddy's face softened a little as she too couldn't believe he had remembered. She was brought back to reality by Brian's voice though.

"Sweetheart," he said touching her arm, "aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Oh Brian," Hayden quickly chimed in before she had a chance to respond, "we forgot you were here."

She wasn't too particular about House being there, but she had rather he be there with them than Brian.

"Uh, this is Doctor Gr-" Cuddy began, but was cut off by House.

"Gregory House," he said holding out his hand to shake Brian's.

Brian shook his hand and then looked at Cuddy, who by now had gotten a new glass of wine. She sipped the wine steadily trying to avoid eye contact with everyone at the table. He looked back to the girls then back at House when he realized that she was not going to look at him.

"House?" Brian asked. House just nodded, knowing that he was getting the picture.

By now she was more than half way through the second glass of wine. Brian just looked at her.

"Whoa, slow down mom," Hayden said laughing a little.

"Are you gonna stay?" Madison asked him.

"No," she said, quickly swallowing the wine.

"I'd love to," he said smiling, feeling more comfortable with the girls after having them barge into his office almost as often as he barged into Cuddy's.

She looked at him, and he would have sworn she was going to kill him, if he hadn't received that look at least twice a week the whole time he had been working with her. He signaled the waiter over and placed an order.

"So Brian, what do you do?" he asked trying to find out more about him.

"He's a tool," Madison quickly offered, smiling at Hayden.

The two men just looked at her.

"Interesting," House said taking a piece of bread out of the basket at the center of the table. "You do strike me as a tool-ish guy."

"See, I told you so," Hayden added, looking at Brian. The three of them gave each other mental high fives as they all smiled at each other.

"Well, I think I should be heading home," Brian said grabbing his coat off the back of his chair and getting up to leave.

"No, wait," Cuddy said getting up to follow him, finally letting go of the wine glass.

"Don't leave," House called after him, "the night's just getting fun."

By the time Cuddy caught up with him, Brian was already in his car. She opened the passenger door and got in.

"Why are you leaving?" She asked already knowing the answer.

"Do you really have to ask that?" he said turning on the engine.

He turned on the heater so the car could start to warm up. They sat there in silence for a few moments before he began again.

"Why didn't you tell me that you worked with him?" he asked giving in to his curiosity.

"I did," she replied, "he's the psycho doctor I was telling you about."

"Okay, so why didn't you tell me that the psycho doctor was the father of your kids?"

"Because," she paused, letting out a sigh, "it's kind of a complicated and long story to tell. It's not one of my favorite things to discuss, and I was just never in the mood to bring it up in detail."

"So, you didn't think I deserved to know?"

"Of course you did," she began. "I just, never found the right time to bring it up."

He looked at her for a while before speaking again. "I really like you Lisa."

She looked up and smiled at him. "I really like you too. That's why I want you to stay and have dinner with us."

He looked back into the restaurant and she knew what he was thinking.

"Believe me he won't be a problem, at least not where our relationship is concerned," she assured him.

He smiled at her before leaning over to kiss her. About a second after their lips had touched they heard the sound of a cane knocking on the window. They both jumped, startled by the sound, and looked to find House knocking on the passenger window.

"Are you two trying to dine and dash?" he asked looking into the window. "Because you do know you have to actually dine before you dash."

She looked back over at Brian. "Just bare with me," she said with apologetic eyes.

He smiled signaling that he would and gave her a quick peck on the lips, before they both got out of the car and went back into the restaurant. The rest of dinner went as well as could be expected, but Brian held his own, as well as he could anyway.

After dinner, they parted ways, House on his way back to his apartment and everyone else back to Cuddy's house.

* * *

"Say goodnight girls," Cuddy said as the girls walked upstairs.

"Goodnight Brian," they said in unison, sarcasm dripping from their voices.

"Goodnight," he returned.

She turned to him and gave him a faint smile for trying. He grabbed her by her waist before pulling her closer and leaning down to kiss her. They pulled back and she bit down on her bottom lip as she looked up at him.

"You know, I don't have to go into the office tomorrow," he offered, before kissing her again. "I could stay the night," he offered once they had pulled back again.

She looked down at her hands as they played with the buttons on his shirt.  
"I'd love for you to stay over," she began, then looked up at him, "but I have two very impressionable teenage girls upstairs."

"I understand," he told her. They stared into each others eyes before he pulled her into another kiss.

"Maybe some other time, when the girls aren't here," she told him as she ran her fingers through his dark hair.

She walked him to the door and they exchanged one last kiss before he left. She turned around and placed her back up against the door. She exhaled hard, blowing the few curls that had fallen into her face out of her eyes. She wanted him to stay over, but she would have to wait until the girls decided to sleep at one of their friends' houses. She took off her heels and was about to go take a shower until she heard the doorbell. She looked at the door a while, wondering who it could be, before walking over to the door. She opened the door and was greeted by a smiling teenage boy.

"Hey Lisa," he said.

"Hey Logan," she said giving him a smile as she reached for the bundle of blankets he was holding, out of habit more than anything.

She heard the girls coming down the stairs as she pulled some of the blankets back to reveal a cluster of light and dark blonde curls framing a little sleeping face. She smiled to herself and took the little girl into her bedroom and put her under the covers. She then grabbed her laptop and went to try to get some more work done as she joined the three teens in her living room.


	13. Chapter 13

House was sitting in the doctor's lounge watching his soap opera. He had his feet up on a table and a bag of cookies that he was eating. He was into the television, when all of a sudden a hand reached from behind him and into the bag of cookies. He just followed the hand back until he met a face. He saw a familiar face, only now he was a teenager, with dark blonde hair that curled at the ends, a green t shirt a pair of jeans and some tennis shoes, and a cap he had on backwards. He just stared at the boy, until the boy made eye contact.

"Wassup?," he said smiling, "good show. I miss it lot when I'm at school, but I usually try to catch it on the net...Dude she's slept with everyone on the show," he added pointing to the screen.

House just stared at the boy as he went back to watching the television. House grabbed the bag of cookies and his portable television and got up to leave the room.

* * *

Cuddy was in her office running around frantically trying to gather some papers for the meeting she was already late for.

"Nice try," House said walking into the office, "but that one's not mine."

He stopped in his tracks when he saw the little girl jumping up and down on the sofa.

"What's not yours?" she asked him. "Isabella, get down sweetheart," she directed towards the little girl.

"The skater dude that tried to eat up all of my cookies," he said holding up the bag of cookies.

"House, I don't know what you're talking about," she began grabbing the little girl off of the sofa. "You aren't doing anything," she said shoving the little girl into his arms, "watch her I'm late for a meeting."

With that she was out the door, without giving House a chance to protest. He just held the little girl up at eye level and looked at her in the pink and red striped turtle neck, a pink dress, and some pink leggings, as she giggled uncontrollably for what he deemed no reason at all. He sighed, and without cracking a smile, put the little girl under his arm, grabbed his cane and the bag of cookies off of the sofa and walked out of the room.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000

The door swung open making Wilson look up from all of the papers that were on his desk. He looked at the little package wrapped in pink with the wild curls under his friend's arm.

"Don't tell me," Wilson started, with a smile, "you have kids that I don't know about."

"Not funny," House said still not cracking a smile.

He sat the little girl on Wilson's desk and turned to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?" Wilson protested.

"Away from Strawberry Shortcake here," he said putting his hand on the doorknob.

"You can't just leave her here," Wilson said standing up.

"Oh, you're right, what was I thinking," he then tossed the bag of cookies to Wilson. "Scooby Snacks."

With that House was gone. Wilson looked down at the little girl that was sitting on his desk. She just looked up at him and smiled.

"He's funny," she said.

Wilson just smiled at the little girl.

* * *

House prepared himself when he heard the familiar sound of heals hitting the floor. He looked up just in time to see Cuddy walk into his office

"House, where the hell is Izzy?!" Cuddy asked him.

He just stared at her in thought before replying. "Is there a logical answer to this question?"

"Isabella," she started again. "The little girl I left with you earlier."

"Oh, the little giggly thing. She's with Wilson."

Cuddy just stared at him for a little while before her expression softened.

"Okay, I would be mad at you, but that was actually more responsible than leaving her with you."

She was about to turn around to leave when House spoke again.

"I had fun Friday night," he began, "you should invite me out more often."

"No one invited you to begin with," she retorted.

"Oh com'on," he said putting his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair. "You can't tell me it wasn't nice to have me around. After all, that Brian dude, whew, what a lame."

"I happen to like Brian thank you very much," she said walking back over to his desk.

"That's funny, I never took you as the type to settle."

"What do you mean?"

"Well when you go from this," he said holding out his arms as if putting himself on display, "to king of the duds, that's kind of what we call settling."

"Lay off the Vicodin a little. You're delusional," she said smirking at him.

"Admit it Cuddy," he began, "you think I'm hot with two Ts."

She just rolled her eyes, not knowing if he was joking or not.

"I'm going to see Wilson," she began as she turned to walk out of the room, "get to the clinic.

"I can't, the nurses can't concentrate with all this hotness around," he yelled after her making sure she heard him.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Lisa!" the little girl yelled jumping into her arms as she opened the door to the office.

"Where were you?" the little girl asked as Cuddy brushed some of her stray curls behind her ear.

"I had to talk with some of the people that are in charge of the hospital," Cuddy replied.

"I missed you."

"Aww, I'm sorry I left you with that mean man."

"I liked him," Izzy said starting to laugh again, "he was nice."

Cuddy put the little girl on the sofa and looked at Wilson.

"She's four, she doesn't know any better," she told him. "Sorry. I asked House to watch her, but…I asked House to watch her."

"It's fine," he said as she sat down at the chair in front of his desk. "Whose is she?"

"She lives down the street from me, with her grandparents and her brother Logan," she began. "He's really good friends with the girls and they usually come over a lot. I was really good friends with their parents. Their grandpa is sick and their grandma is sitting with him at the hospital. He wanted to come in and volunteer with Hayden and Madison, so I have Isabella."

"What's wrong with their grandpa?"

"Sarcoidosis," she said.

"Their parents?"

She looked over at the little girl playing with one of the plush toys Wilson had in his office. She lowered her voice to where the little girl couldn't hear them, even if she was paying attention.

"Their mom died giving birth to Isabella and their dad got killed on the job, he was a police officer."

They both just looked at the little girl, still in her own little world now having found a friend for the first plush toy.

"Well we better get going," Cuddy said, as she started to get up from the chair.

"Have you talked to House?" he asked her before she could leave.

"Not by choice."

"I think you should talk to him. He seems to have something on his mind. I think it's personal."

"Personal how?" she asked looking at him weird.

"Personal as in, Hayden and Madison personal."

"Why? Did he say something?"

"No," he started, "but he never does. That's why I was hoping you could be the adult and ask him about it."

"I don't think so. If he's not mature enough to come to me about it then he's not mature enough to be a father to them," she stated, boldly.

Wilson just looked down at the papers on his desk, knowing she had a point.

"What happened between you two, the night you dropped the girls off at my house?" he asked, regretting it after he saw the disconsolate expression that appeared on her face. She became distant a little while before snapping back to reality.

"I really do have a lot of work to do," she said rising from the chair again.

He just watched as she moved towards the door.

"Ready to go," she said removing all the sadness from her voice, as she reached her hand out to the little girl.

The girl smiled and got up quickly, grabbing her hand as they both left out of the door.

Wilson sat back in his chair wondering what had happened the night in question. All he knew was that Cuddy had dropped the girls off at his house after telling him she was going to see House. He had just gotten a job at a hospital about an hour and a half from where they lived, after resigning from the other hospital. They started having problems about five months after he had taken the job at the first hospital. He started distancing himself from everyone and pushing those who tried to get close away. He wondered why she was putting so much effort into a man people had already conceived to be an asshole. But he guessed the same could be said for him putting in the effort he put into their friendship. He knew that he was different around them though. He had seen them interact with her and the girls and he was a whole different person when it came to them, but all of that changed. She had left around eight and had returned to his home around midnight to pick up the girls. She was soaked from the rain that had been pouring out of the sky all night, and he could tell she had been crying. But she refused to talk to him about it. She just got the girls and left. After that, he had never heard her or House talk about that night again, so he left it alone. He knew it was something big though, and they would have to get over it to fully move on with their lives, rather they were together or not.

* * *

"Dude, why'd you take the TV," the boy asked as he walked into the room behind Hayden and Madison.

"Dude, because it was my TV," House said mimicking his tone.

"Don't mind him," Hayden started, "he's been like this the whole three weeks we've known him."

"Is there something you wanted, other than to annoy me and disturb my nap?" he asked

"No, those were the only two reasons," Madison replied, nonchalantly.

By now the boy had grabbed the portable television off of the shelf and turned it on. House just looked at him.

"What? They're showing all the episodes from last week. I missed some of them," he told him.

He sat the TV on the desk and he and the two girls started to watch the screen. House decided to join them since he knew they wouldn't let him go back to sleep and he still didn't feel like going into the clinic.

**Any comments????**


	14. Chapter 14

They were all so into the television that they didn't hear Cuddy enter the room.

"House, why aren't you in the clinic?" she asked drawing everyone's attention to her.

"I thought I had been promoted to head of day care," he retorted.

She just shook her head.  
"Everybody out," she said grabbing the television, "you guys are supposed to be helping out around here."

"Sorry, we got suckered in by a bad influence," Hayden said as they left the room.

"You've got a case," she said tossing the file on his desk. "Twenty-seven year old female, accountant, complained of sharp pains in her leg before she collapsed and started convulsing."

She started to leave, but he stopped her.

"Hey, where are you going with my TV?" he asked.

"My TV," she corrected him before walking out of his office.

On her way back to her office, she stopped by the nurses' station to check on Isabella.

"Everything going good?" she asked Nurse Julia.

The little girl smiled at her as she continued eating her red sucker.

"Everything's fine," the nurse replied with a smile. "You have a couple of messages."

She handed her the two pieces of papers. A smile came to her face when she realized one of the messages was from Brian. The other was just a memo from the board members informing her that they had rescheduled their next meeting. She looked at the paperwork on her desk and decided to work on getting the pile down some before returning Brian's call.

* * *

Hayden, Madison, and Logan were walking around the hospital. They didn't want to go back to the pediatric wing because they were tired of the screaming kids and the screaming parents.. They found an empty patient room and decided to hide out in there.

"So I don't understand why you don't like your dad," Logan said lying down on the bed.

"I never said I didn't like him," Madison quickly said in her defense.

"I'm talking about the mean girl over here," he said pointing to Hayden.

"I didn't say that either," she said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, but it's clear by the things you say when he's around," Madison said, joining Logan's side of the argument.

"Is it that obvious?"

They both nodded, making a smile appear on her face.

"Good then."

"I don't get it," Logan said, "he seems pretty cool."

"Well I already have enough cool friends," she replied sitting down in the chair on side of the bed.

"Okay, we both know that I'm the coolest, but you're still missing out on a cool dad."

"In case you haven't noticed, it's been that way for a while now," she told him.

"You're nice to him sometimes, why can't you just be nice all the time?" Madison asked.

"Because I don't have to be and I don't want to be."

"Give the guy a break," Logan offered. "He messed up. Everybody deserves a second chance."

"Yeah, but everyone doesn't want a second chance," she retorted.

"How do you know what he wants?" Madison asked, feeling a little offended.

"He's been working here for years now. This place is only like fifteen minutes form where we live. If he wanted to see us it wouldn't be that hard," she said sounding a little frustrated now.

"Well…maybe he -," Madison started, but was cut off by Hayden.

"Maybe he decided he didn't want kids anymore. Maybe he thinks we're the biggest mistakes he's ever made," she said, clearly upset now.

"Hayden just let it go," Logan said touching her shoulder.

She just pushed his hand away and continued.

"Get over it Madison. He doesn't want you just like he doesn't want me."

She stormed out of the room leaving them both standing there.

"She's just upset," Logan told Madison.  
She just held her head down.

"I'm sure you're dad loves you guys. Sometimes life just gets a little crazy."  
She continued looking down at the floor.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked her. She just nodded her head.  
He looked at the door.

"Okay then I'll be back. I have to go find Hayden before she gets into trouble again. My social life can't handle you guys being grounded again."

With that he left the room. She sat there for a minute thinking about Hayden's words. She knew she had a temper and was upset, but her words may have had some truth. Did he leave because he decided he didn't want kids anymore or was it all just a big mistake like Logan had said? She wanted to know.

* * *

She had gotten a good bit of the paperwork off of her desk and decided to take a break and call Brian. She pulled out her cell phone and started to dial.

"Hello?" she heard his voice come through the phone.

"Hey, you called?"

"Yeah, how's your day going so far."

"It's going well so far. A few problems here and there, but nothing I can't handle. What about you?"

"It's fine," he said starting to sound a little anxious.

"Is something wrong?" she asked sitting up in her chair now.

"No, nothings wrong," he reassured her. "I just wanted to ask you something, and I'm not sure what you'll say."

"Well just ask me," she said smiling. "I don't bite."

He hesitated a little while before he started.  
"What do you think about you and the girls spending Christmas with me and my family?"

Her words got caught in her throat as another smile came across her face.

"Lisa, are you still there?" he asked hearing the silence on the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, I'm still here."

"If you don't wanna go, I un-," he began, before she cut him off.

"No, we'd love to," she said. "I think it's a great idea."

"Good, for a moment there I thought you were going to say no," he said laughing a little.

"Are you sure?" she asked him, after having thought about it. "My girls aren't actually the kindest, and I don't want them to em-."

"Don't worry about it," he said reading her thoughts. "I have nieces and nephews around their ages. My family is used to it."

She smiled again as they continued their conversation about their plans to spend Christmas together. She rarely went home for the holidays anymore due to her family's constant badgering. She had graduated from medical school, managed to become the dean of medicine at one of the country's top hospitals, was raising two kids on her own and doing a good job at it she thought, although she knew they would say other wise, but they couldn't get pass the fact of her being a single or working mother. This was mostly because they didn't approve of her relationship with House from the beginning. They were outraged when they heard she was pregnant with Hayden during her first year of medical school, and almost disowned her when they heard the news about Madison. She didn't understand why, she had never asked them for anything. She didn't even have to take a significant amount of time off from school to have them. She had graduated on time and finished her residency on schedule also. She would talk with them regularly, but avoid going home, not wanting to be trapped in the tension filled environment.

As House passed by Cuddy's office, he could see she was on the telephone and had a huge smile on her face. He knew she wasn't talking to a donor, because there was no need to smile with them over the telephone. He knew she was talking to Brian and decided to go in and pay her a visit.

"Why'd you leave?" he asked barging into the office. "It was just getting hot and steamy."

She put her hand over the receiver so Brian couldn't hear him.

"Why are you yelling?"

"Because it was so good. And then you just cut it off," he said leaning over her desk so his mouth could be closer to the receiver so Brian could still hear him.

She knew what he was talking about and what he was trying to do and decided to give, just so he would leave the room. She opened the top right drawer of her desk, pulled out the small television and handed it to him.

"Now get out," she commanded taking her hand from over the receiver.  
He just stood there and turned on the television.

"Wow, get a load of those boobs!" he said yelling again.

She looked down and knew she was fighting a loosing battle.

"Is it okay if I call you back later?" she said into the phone, then waited for his reply. "Okay talk to you later then."

She hung up the phone and glared at House.

"Did I interrupt your phone call?" he asked innocently. "Sorry, she has a nice rack. Not as nice as yo-."

"House, why are you still here?" she asked obviously disgusted. "Don't you have a patient?"

"Yeah, I talked with my peeps," he told her. "They're on it."

"Okay," she began, "is there another reason you're here?"

"Well I'm in here so much, it's become kind of my comfort zone."

"Well since you're down here you might as well see some patients," she told him.

"Would you look at the time," he said turning to leave. "Gotta go. Got a patient to check on."

When he got back to his office his team had not come back from running their tests. He did see that one of his frequent visitors was in his office.

"So where's the rest of your crew?" he asked her as he started taking his jacket off. "Did they find another office to bre-," he stopped when he saw her face.

She was sitting in the chair behind his desk just staring at him. Her face held no expression and her eyes looked as if they would start shooting daggers at any moment. And with a tone as cold as it was bold she spoke.

"Why don't you want us?"


	15. Chapter 15

He stood and stared at her for a few moments, stabling himself from the blow her words had just dealt to him. He knew a snide remark or a witty joke wouldn't due in this situation. He looked away from her, as he parted his lips to answer her.

"I never said I didn't want y-," he started.

"Well how come you don't love us?" she asked, not giving him a chance to finish his previous statement.

He stared at her for a few more seconds, the blows were being dealt to quickly.

"I do love you," he began. "I jus-"

"Really, that's funny," she began with tears forming in her eyes, "because I thought dads that loved there kids actually took time to see if they were at least still living."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me," she said folding her arms.

He paused for a moment before trying to explain himself again.

"I did it for you. I thought you guys would be better off without me."

"Well you thought wrong," she said not excepting the explanation.

"Madison," he tried, "I know-"

"No, you don't know. You don't know anything about me or my sister," she said holding back her tears.

He just stood there not knowing what to say. There was no way he felt he could explain his actions to his thirteen year old daughter. She wouldn't understand, she hadn't been old enough at the time to understand everything that was happening. She looked over at the papers on his desk and let out a condescending chuckle.

"You know more about strangers then you know about your own kids. Too bad we weren't dying, maybe then we could have gotten you're attention."

With that she left the room. It felt like someone had punched him in the stomach, and it was the only pain that he had felt that had hurt worst than his leg, since the infarction. She was right. For the past few years, he had devoted his life solely to his cases. He had convinced himself that this would make everyone happy, but now he was starting to think that he was wrong. They actually seemed to like being around him, and he had a new found reason to come to work every day. The things he said and did didn't make them run away and they didn't shy away from the subject of the vicodin or his leg. The only other people he knew to do that was Wilson and…Cuddy. He thought about that night, the look in her eyes when she had given him back the ring. Was he wrong in assuming that him leaving was the best thing for her too? She was the only person that he knew that would be willing to hire him and deal with his mess. Was this because she actually hadn't given up all hope on him that night? He mulled it over a little while longer and popped two vicodins, before leaving to go see his friend, but he had to make a stop to see Cuddy's assistant, Julie, first.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Hey kid," he said, making the little girl turn around to face him.

He was standing around the corner so the makeshift babysitter wouldn't see him. She smiled when she saw who it was.

"Come here," he said bending down so he could be face to face with her.

She ran around the corner to him, her curls bouncing with every step.

"Hey," she said as she stopped only inches away from his face.

"Hey," he said taking a step back. "How about asking Nurse Julie to take you to the restroom."

"But I don't gotsa go potty," she said with a confused look on her face.

"I've got a candy bar that says otherwise," he said showing her a candy he had gotten out of the vending machine.

The girl instinctively grabbed for the candy bar, but he moved it out of her reach.

"The candy is yours, if you ask Nurse Julie to take you to the restroom."

"Okay," she said giggling as he handed her the candy.

"Isabella," Nurse Julie said giving House a mean glare, "you're not supposed to talk to strangers, sweetie."

"He's not a stranger," the little girl said. "He's my friend."

The woman just stared at House as he looked back at her victoriously. The nurse took the little girl's hand and they were about to walk off until House softly poked Izzy in the back with his cane.

"Oh wait," the she said as she stopped and looked at the candy bar in her hand.

"What's wrong?" the nurse asked stopping also.  
Isabella looked back at House, who nodded, before turning back to the nurse.

"I gotsa go potty," she said as a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

They walked off towards the bathroom leaving House alone with Julie's computer. He stepped through the first set of double doors and took a seat behind the desk. He didn't have to search hard for what he was looking for. He clicked on the section of the task bar that read 'Dr. Cuddy's Schedule', and a calendar popped up. He found the information he was looking for and made a mental note of it. He also found some information that he wasn't looking for. He saw that Cuddy had taken off for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In the spaces for those dates were the words 'Christmas in Baltimore with Brian'. His heart sunk when he saw this. Cuddy was really serious about this guy, and he must have been really serious about her to invite her to Christmas with his family. He stared at the words for few more moments before he got up to leave. Even more reason to go see Wilson now.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

He opened the door and walked into his friend's office.  
"The business of dying must be really slow," he said noting that there was no patient in the office.

"What is it this time?" he asked as House took his usual place on the sofa.

"What are you doing Wednesday evening?"

"Why?"

"Meet me at your car at 3:30," he said.

"Why my car? And I didn't tell you if I had anything to do," Wilson informed him.

"Because I don't let men ride shotgun on my bike and you don't have anything to do."

"Use your car then, and how do you know that?'

"Don't want to," he said replying to his first comment. "And you asked why,even if you did have plans the fact that you asked means they suck and you were willing to change them."

Wilson just looked at him before asking, "Can you at least tell me where we're going?"

"Nope, it's a surprise. Besides if I tell you, you'll over think it and drive me crazy for the next couple of days. So what do you think of this Brian guy?" he asked with the same tone he had used with the previous sentence.

"Why what happened? What did you do?"

"You make it sound like I just go around doing things with reckless abandon," he said.

"House she's happy," Wilson began reading House's mind, "if you are not going to do anything to add to that, please don't take away from it. Everyone deserves to be happy, even the people that don't want it."

The knock on the door disrupted their conversation.

"Now get out," Wilson ordered, "my 4:15 is here."

House's pager went off right after Wilson said this.

"Looks like the dying business is starting to pick up again," he said getting off of the sofa, "too bad you can't invest in dying people."

"It's called life insurance."

House stopped to look at him as if in thought.

"Good-bye House," he said after shaking his head at the thoughts he knew were running through his mind.

He then opened the door to allow his patient to enter and House to leave.

* * *

He stuck his head into the room and saw her sitting in the chair on side of the bed. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and her hands over her face, as he stepped into the room.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said sounding a little defensive.

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying," she said turning her back to him.

"Yes you are liar," Logan said trying to lighten the mood. He went over to her and sat on the arm of the chair. "What happened?"

She didn't answer.

"Okay Maddie, you gotta help me out here," he started, "I don't know what to do when girls cry, well except for Izzy, but she's four, funny faces usually work with her."

He looked at her before stepping in front of her and making a funny face. This made her laugh.

"You're such a loser," she said wiping away the left over tears.

"Thanks, I try," he returned, and handed her some tissue from the box on the table. "Now let's go to the maternity ward."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because that's where all the babies are, duh?"

"Shut up," she said as they left the room.

* * *

"Where are we going?" The little girl asked looking up at Cuddy.

"We're looking for Hayden, Madison, and your brother, so we can go home."

"There they are," the little girl yelled as the elevator doors opened. "Logan!"

Isabella tried to run, but Cuddy had a good grip on her hand. She quickened her pace to keep up with the little girl tugging on her arm.

"Can we come up here next time." Madison asked as they reached the window. "They're much cuter and they don't cry as loud."

"They are cute huh?" Cuddy said looking at the babies through the window.

"I wanna see, let me see," Isabella demanded.

She picked up the little girl so she could see the babies on the other side of the window. They all gawked over the babies for a little while, before Hayden saw the look in Cuddy's eyes.

"No mom," she began, "we are not having this conversation again."

"What?" Cuddy asked looking away from the babies.

"Every time you bring up the subject of having a baby, then we talk you out of if, and in the next few months you're right back on the subject again," Hayden told her.

"Well I'm seriously thinking about it this time," she replied.

"I'd babysit," Logan offered.

"Shut up," Hayden said hitting him on the arm, "you're not helping."

"Why would you even want one of these things?" Madison asked, now not so fond of the babies. "All they do is cry, eat, poop, and sleep. A puppy would be better."

"Like I said, I'm thinking about it," she told them as they headed towards the elevator to go home for the day.

* * *

A/N:Hope ya'll enjoyed and to the person who asked, the surfer dude House was referring to was Logan.


	16. Chapter 16

"Make a left into this parking lot," House told Wilson.

He did as he was told, although he still wasn't sure what was the purpose of them being there. He found a parking spot and noticed a familiar car parked further down the row from them.

"Isn't that Cuddy's car?" he asked pointing to it.

"Well I guess this is the spot to be when you're skipping out on work," House replied, not even turning to look to where Wilson was pointing.

Wilson just looked back at the car, even more confused now. He caught up with House, who had already started to walk towards the entrance of the building that looked like a warehouse from the outside. Then he noticed the sign on the building, 'Touissant Ballet Company'.

"Did I really have to come with you for this?" he asked House catching up with him at the entrance.

"I let you and that little mutt of yours live with me," House told him. "You made my life a living hell while you were there, so yeah, you owe me."

"You kept the DVD player," Wilson told him following him into the building.

"It wasn't top of the line," House said as he passed the empty front desk of the building and proceeded to look into the individual doors that lined the hallway.

Wilson was happy that House decided to at least try to do something about his new found situation, but he didn't know if he wanted to be dragged along for the ride. After all, House did have a way of destroying everything that had the misfortune of being categorized as personal to him.

"Does Cuddy know you're here?" he asked realizing that he was a part of whatever House had planned, at least for the moment.

House didn't answer. He just kept looking into the small windows of each door.

"Of course she doesn't," Wilson said throwing up his hands. "I didn't even know we were here until a few minutes ago."

"You didn't?" House said looking back at him as he placed his hand on one of the doorknobs. "You should get those blackouts checked out."

House opened the door and nodded to him that he had found the room he was looking for. They walked in quietly and joined the few other parents that were sitting in a small seating area against the side wall nearest to the door. There was a short wall sectioning off the seating area from the rest of the classroom, but it was short enough that the people behind it could still watch as the classes were held. Most of the parents that were there seemed to not be paying attention to the class. One had her laptop and seemed to be catching up on some work, the one who was knitting looked old enough to be one of the girl's grandmother, another was shuffling through a folder of papers, and two others were watching the class in session. House and Wilson joined in with the two spectators.

House looked on intently at the two girls he had come to see. They both had on black leotards with white tights and pink ballet shoes. Their hair was pulled back into neat buns, allowing everyone full access to their beautiful facial features. They seemed so calm and graceful and…compliant, not anything like they were around him for the last few weeks. He looked at them in awe as they engaged in their warm ups with the rest of the class.

"Hard to believe that those are your kids," Wilson whispered to him with a smirk on his face.

He gave a diminutive smile in reply to the comment. This made Wilson glad that he came, although it was a small hint of happiness from his friend, he knew it was genuine. Maybe there was still hope for him after all.

Madison was the first to notice them, and you could tell that she was caught off guard upon seeing them, but she held her composure. She stared at them for a second before turning her head to the side to get Hayden's attention. Once she got her attention, she looked back over towards the area where they were setting, and Hayden followed her gaze. She contorted her face slightly confused at the sight of them being there. She stared for a few more moments before a dull pain in her lower leg bought her back to her senses. 'Whack.' It was the sound of her instructors stick hitting the back of her leg.

"Legs straight," the older woman told her with a heavy accent, as Hayden straightened her leg back into its correct position.

The instructor just glared at her and she glared back. She rolled her eyes as the instructor walked away from her, making a small smile come to Madison's face and eventually House's.

There was about fifteen minutes left in the class when Wilson noticed two familiar faces walking through the front door of the room. One was the face of a smiling Isabella, in her pink leotard, tights, and ballet shoes, and the other was the face of a newly confused Cuddy.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked when she was close enough to whisper to them.

"He made me come," House said pointing to Wilson, momentarily facing her before turning back to look at the class that was in session.

"It was actually him who dragged me along," Wilson informed her. "He wanted to come and as always, I had to be the moral babysitter."

"But why? How did you know there was a class scheduled for today?" Cuddy asked, not believing that House would actually know the days the ballet classes were held let alone want to attend one.

"Shhh," he said trying to avoid both of her questions. "And you say I'm the rude one."

She gave him an incredulous look before sitting down and placing a tiring Isabella on her lap.

The three watched the last ten minutes of the class quietly.

"Okay," the instructor started, "I want you all to continue to do your exercise over the next couple of weeks. There will be no classes until after the holidays, but I don't want anyone coming back lazily. Ballet is a work of art and it demands continuous hard work and effort, so practice during the break. If I don't see some of you until the next class, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years. Class dismissed."

The girls walked to the door on the far back wall and entered into the attached locker room.

"So why are you here?" Cuddy asked House, even more curious now than she was before.

"Got bored at the hospital," House said nonchalantly. "And being around sick people all day can really get you down in the dumps."

"Who gave you permission to leave?" she asked.

"We went to look for our boss to ask her, but we couldn't find her," he returned. "We took that as a yes."

"What House is to stubborn to say is, that he actually wanted to come here to see the girls during their ballet class. I guess our conversation on the elevator the other day sparked his interest," Wilson told her. "As for leaving the hospital early… sorry about that."

"His words not mine," he said looking at her, "I'm not sorry for leaving early." They stared at each other for a few moments before House turned to look back to the door waiting for the girls to emerge.

House's words threw Cuddy for a loop. He admitted that he had come there to see the girls, not in those exact words but he didn't deny it. And for House, that was as close to a personal confession as one could expect to get. She looked back over towards the back door as the three of them stood in silence. The girls were now starting to emerge from the room one by one, each now wearing loose sweats and tennis shoes, and carrying a black duffle bag. Some of them had already let their hair down and picked up their demeanors of rebellious adolescent girls and discarded the roles of the graceful young ladies that were present when they first entered the room. Hayden and Madison came from the back with one of the other girls from the class. They were talking when two other girls walked up from behind him and said something to them. Hayden quickly responded, and whatever she said left one of the girls mad, as they both stomped away. They told the other girl goodbye and continued to walk over to where House, Wilson, and Cuddy were standing along with Isabella.

"Hey Uncle Jimmy," both of the girls greeted as they stopped in front of the three adults.

He greeted them, and then they turned their attention to what they had been itching to find out.

"What are you doing here?" Hayden asked, with a hint of anticipation in her voice.

Both of the girls were looking at House now, awaiting an answer.

"Just wanted to make sure you two were still living," he said, referring to Madison's comment from a few days ago.

A small smile appeared across Madison's face before she walked towards Cuddy who was now putting on Isabella's coat.

"So whadda ya think?" Hayden asked still pressing the subject. "We still kicking or not?"

This made Wilson smile. After all of the remarks she had made directed towards him, Hayden was looking for House's approval for something that meant a lot to her. House's expression grew soft, and Wilson could tell he too knew that was what she was doing. He just hoped House didn't disappoint.

"You and your sister were the best in the class," he began. "And don't worry about the old hag, she's just mad because she knows in a few years you'll be better than she ever was."

A smile appeared across her face. "I know," she said jokingly.

"Ready?" Cuddy asked Hayden as she walked back over to them.

"Cuddy," House said before she could answer, "Wilson's having a get together for Christmas."

"I am?" Wilson asked surprised by his words. "House you do know that I'm Jewish right?"

"Are you gonna come over?" House continued ignoring him.

Cuddy just stared at him in disbelief. She now knew how he knew about the ballet class today. And apparently that wasn't the only information he had swiped from her computer. She hesitated before she answered. She hadn't told Hayden and Madison yet about their Christmas plans because she knew they wouldn't want to go.

"I'm sorry Wilson," she said still glaring at House, "we're going to be out of town for Christmas."

"We are?" Madison asked confused.

"Where are we going?" Hayden asked just as confused as Madison.

She rolled her eyes at House before speaking again, "Baltimore."

"Who lives in Baltimore?" Madison asked.

She sighed before answering. "Brian invited us to spend Christmas with him and his family…and I accepted."

"Well I didn't," Hayden said.

"You're going," she said turning to her and then turning to Madison. "Both of you."

"Whatever, I'm going to the car," Hayden said obviously upset by her newly learned Christmas plans.

"Thanks a lot mom," Madison said sarcastically, "this is sure to be the worst Christmas I've ever had."

She followed Hayden out of the door.

"How dare you," Cuddy said turning back to House. "Who gave you permission to hack into my computer?"

"I didn't touch your computer," he told her.

"Well how did you know-," she started.

"A good spy never reveals his sources," he said cutting her off.

"Stay the hell out of my office when I'm not in there," she told him, knowing it was no use in trying to get him to confess.

* * *

"Oh you're going," Cuddy said as they entered the house.

The entire ride home had been quiet, each of them sulking in their own anger. She had dropped Isabella off at her grandparents' and they were now walking through the door of their own home, knowing her and Logan would probably be over later.

"How can you say yes without even asking us first?" Madison asked her, half yelling.

"Because I'm you're mother, and if I say you're going, you're going, and that's final," she said yelling back.

"If we go we're not going to have fun. You'll both be sor-," Hayden started, but was cut off by Cuddy.

"Okay listen both of you. You are going to go to Baltimore and you are going to like it. You are going to be respectful, and nice, and you're going to behave, because if you don't," she said laughing a little, "you are the ones that are going to be sorry."

With that she walked off towards the kitchen, leaving them in the foyer.

"What do you think she's gonna do?" Madison asked.

"I don't know," Hayden replied still staring off in the direction she had walked off in.

"Think she meant it?" Madison asked as they began to walk upstairs.

"Yeah," Hayden began, "she used her angry laugh."

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Madison said throwing her bag on the floor, next to Hayden's. "Maybe they'll be nice people. Maybe they aren't as stiff as he is."

"Lets hope not," she replied, "or else this Christmas is going to suck."

"So why do you think dad was there today?" she asked.

"I don't know," Hayden said grabbing her guitar, "the guys bipolar or something."

She started to play a tune that was familiar to both of their ears, but stopped half way through.

"Why do you always play that and you only know the first half of it?" Madison asked her. "You never finish it."

"I don't know," she said quietly as she started to play the tune all over again.


	17. Chapter 17

She sat in her office with her head in her hand, as she held the phone in the other hand, listening to the older lady continue to explain her situation.

"So how's he doing?" she asked.

"Not so well," the lady said.

"And he will be in the hospital for Christmas?"

"Yeah," the lady started, "I don't want the kids to have to spend Christmas in the hospital and I don't want John to have to spend Christmas alone. Lisa, could you please do me this favor?"

She closed her eyes as she squeezed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and her index finger. She had been helping the elderly couple take care of their two grandkids since their daughter had died a few years ago. She had known Samantha since she had moved into the neighborhood to help take care of her mother and father. A few years later, her husband died before he even found out she was pregnant with Isabella. She and Logan then moved in with her parents, down the block. She had grown fond of the older couple and loved Logan and Isabella as if they were her own kids. She knew that if anything had ever happened to her, Samantha would have done the same for Madison and Hayden. During the past year though, Mr. Everett's sarcoidosis had been getting the better of him, and due to her knowledge of medicine, Cuddy knew it was only a matter of time before he passed.

"Alright," she said wearily. "They can spend Christmas with me and my girls."

"Thanks Lisa," the lady said sounding overjoyed. "Are you sure it's not a problem?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," she lied. "I would love to have them."

This was true, she would love to have Logan and Isabella spend Christmas with her, but she had already made plans with Brian. 'I'll just have to cancel with him,' she thought.

"Okay Lisa. Thanks again," the woman started. "You're an angel."

She rolled her eyes after she hung up the phone. 'Why does this always happen to me?' she thought picking up the phone to call Brian. She was never really big on Christmans until she had kids. She started to celebrated the holiday after Hayden was born and it became a tradition for them as well as her.

"Hello?" he said picking up the phone.

"Hey it's me," she said trying to hide how upset she was.

"What's up?" he asked.

She took a deep breath before she began. "About our Christmas plans, I'm afraid I can't go with you to your parents' house. I'm sorry."

"Why not? What happened?" he asked obviously disappointed.

"Mr. Everett is in the hospital," she explained, "and Mrs. Everett just called and asked if I could keep the kids for Christmas."

"And you told her yes?" he asked sounding a little upset.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," she said closing her eyes and placing her head in her hand again. "But I couldn't tell her no, I could never forgive myself."

There was silence on the phone for a while, then he sighed.

"That's the problem, you're too good Lisa, but that's one of the reasons I love you," he said a little disappointed.

A smile spread across her face and she felt butterflies in her stomach, this was the first time he had told her that he loved her.

"I love you too Brian," she answered softly, still smiling.

"Well I guess that settles it," he said, "I'll just have to call my mom and tell her I have new plans for Christmas."

Her smile got even wider. "Thanks for understanding," she told him. She was on cloud nine, and nothing could bring her down.

"Wow someone must have made an orgasmic donation," House said throwing the door open as he stepped into her office.

"Let me call you back ," she said before hanging up the phone. She then turned to him. "What do you want House?"

"I want to know why you were smiling like the cat off of Alice in Wonderland," he told her.

"I had no idea you still watched that movie," she said smiling again.

"I don't. It kinda stuck in my head from all those years ago. You know, like me being stuck in you're head from all those years ago," he started. "Is that why you always get that twinkle in your eyes whenev-"

"Don't kid yourself House. That twinkle you see is probably due to the tickle in your pants you get every time you see me," she retorted.

He thought about it for a while before replying, "Yeah, you're probably right."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the papers from his hand. She looked over them for a while and he waited for the fuse to detonate the explosion.

"You wanna do exploratory surgery on a patient, because you think he has lesions on his brain?" she said looking at him. He just looked back at her.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked still looking at him.

"Well I would cut into his brain, but we already know what's the problem with it," he said sarcastically.

"No," she said handing the papers back to him.

"What do you pay me for?" he asked her. "Every time I come up with a diagnosis it seems to be your time of the week and you shoot it down."

"There are plenty of more tests you can run first to see if there is even anything wrong with his digestive system before you go cutting into his intestines," she told him.

He stood twisting his face and thought for a momente before he replied, "Yeah, but if I'm right, I get to go home earlier."

"Do the other tests House," she said folding her arms. "And I want to see the results."

"Well that's gonna make it hard to lie about doing them," he said looking back at her, as he limped out of her office.

She shook her head as she watched him grab a sucker from the nurses' station. Nurse Karen told him something as he did, and she saw his lips move as he answered her in what she figured to be an offensive retort. She smiled to herself when the nurse's bottom jaw almost hit the floor. Her mind wandered to two days before when he showed up unexpectedly at the girls' ballet class. For a moment, she thought she had saw in him the reflection of the man she had once planned to marry, the man who had fathered her children. She stood in thought for a little while with a humble smile spread across her face, before she sadly shook the thought and stepped back behind her desk to continue business for the day.

* * *

_He opened his eyes to find the most beautiful woman he had ever seen staring at him with a huge smile on her face. She had on a white tank top with some loose gray sweat pants, and her long brown hair was pulled back into a loose bun with a few stray curls framing her face. She sat down on the coffee table in front of him and admired the sight before her._

_"You know you are going to spoil them if you keep doing this," she told him._

_He looked down to the two little girls that occupied each of his arms, one still a baby and the other no more than three years old. They were both snuggled close to him and both were sound asleep._

_"I think that ship has sailed," he said smiling at her._

_"We should put them to bed," she said, after staring at him for a few more moments._

_She got up and picked the baby up out of his arms, and he got up still holding the oldest. After the girls were safely tucked in their beds, they returned back to their living room. He sat back down in the chair he had occupied earlier, and pulled her onto his lap as she tried to pass him. He immediately kissed her._

_"I have work to do, Greg," she said smiling at him._

_"You work too hard," was his reply._

_She tried to get up, but he held her in his lap._

_"Com'on Lise," he said, sounding a little disappointed, "I barely get anytime alone with you anymore."_

_She looked into his blue eyes and decided that she could finish up her paper work later._

_"So long time, no see," he said after feeling her relax into his arms. "How's life."_

_"Life's good," she said laughing a little at his sarcasm._

_"That's it, just good?" he said sounding surprised._

_"Okay, you got me," she said smiling even wider now. "Life's great, I couldn't see it being any better than it is right now."_

_"Oh really, why is that?" he asked running his finger tips back and forth along her arm._

_She laughed a little at him fishing for a compliment. His ego was always in need of stroking, and that was one thing that everyone else hated about him and couldn't understand how she tolerated from him. He didn't understand why she put up with it either, that or any other thing about him that the majority of the people he came across hated about him. He didn't know why she loved him so much, but she did and that was all he needed, because he couldn't love another woman more if he tried._

_"Well," she began, "I just started my residency at one of the top hospitals in the country. I have two beautiful little girls that I love more than life itself. So yeah, living my dream, two wonderful, healthy kids, life's great."_

_She smiled at him, knowing she had not given him the main thing he was after. He grabbed her left hand and started to fiddle with the diamond ring on her ring finger._

_"And that obnoxious, asshole fiancé of yours that everyone loves to hate," he said looking at the ring on her finger and then back to her, "you still with him?"_

_"Ahh, him," she said, before pausing for a little while, "yeah, we're still together."_

_He just looked at her for a minute, admiring her, before he said in a slightly more serious tone, "You know, I think you're too good for him."_

_"Well I think he's perfect for me," she said putting a hand on his chest and bringing her face closer to his. "And no matter what anybody thinks, says or does, including you…I will always love you, Gregory House."_

************************************  
His eyes shot open and he stared at the bright green numbers looking at him, 4:22 shined across the face of the clock on his nightstand. He rolled over onto his back, knowing that it wasn't likely that he was going to get back to sleep anytime soon. This was part of his night time ritual, but he was still unsettled by the dream he had just had. 'I will always love you, Gregory House.' Her words echoed in his mind, not allowing him to get back to sleep or focus on anything else. He sighed heavily as he grabbed the vicodin bottle from his nightstand.

* * *

"Boy you look like crap," Wilson said as House walked through the front doors of the hospital. "And you're on time."

"Couldn't sleep," was his reply."Had a lot on my mind."

"You can never sleep," he started. "But, you always manage to fall back to sleep an hour before you're due for work. So what is it about this episode of insomnia that drove you to arrive to work on time?"

Before he could answer Cuddy walked out of the clinic.

"Good morning James. Why are you here?" she asked House with a confused look on her face.

"Because I work here," he said looking around the hospital. "At least I think. If not you look an awful lot like the screeching banshee I work for."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Since you're here on time, I expect you to get your full clinic hours done today."

"Nice to see you have such high expectations, to bad I won't be able to reach them, you know with the bum leg and all."

"House," she said stepping closer to him, "do not try me. I am having a very bad week. Now I am going to drop this off in radiology, I expect to see you in the clinic when I get back."  
With that she walked away.

"What's eating at her?" Wilson asked, as they both watched her walk away.

"She probably realized that no matter how hard she squinted her eyes and tilted her head, her boy toy Jason was never going to come anywhere close to being me," House said as they started to walk towards the elevators.

"Okay, first I think you're referring to Brian, and second I seriously doubt if that's it," Wilson replied.

"I don't know," House said in a boastful and sarcastic tone, "She hounds me so much here, I'm sure she can't help but to stay awake thinking about me at night."

"Is that what kept you awake last night thinking about her?" Wilson said jokingly.

House was slow to answer and when Wilson turned to him he could read the answer all over his face.

"Oh my God," Wilson said astonished by his new revelation. "You were thinking about Cuddy all night, that's why you didn't get any sleep."


	18. Chapter 18

"No she's not," he said as the elevator doors opened.

He got off of the elevator and started to walk towards his office. Wilson followed.

"Why are you following me?" House asked him as he stepped off the elevator and started down the hall. "Your office is that way," he said trying to get rid of him after realizing his subconscious slip.

"Because this is big," Wilson said as they both stopped in the middle of the hallway. "You are starting to rethink everything you did. At first I thought it was just the girls, but it's Cuddy too."

House glared at him, before starting to walk again.

"I told you it wasn't her," he reiterated.

"Exactly," was Wilson's reply. "You just said it wasn't her. No remarks about how naïve I am, no snide remarks about her, just a simple no."

"Hmm, a simple no," he said as if in thought, "I can see how that screams yes."

"So what are you gonna do?" Wilson asked House as he nodded to the two intruders who had successfully broken into his office this time.

He studied them for a while before turning back Wilson.

"Nothing," he replied, "because there is nothing to do nothing about."

"Dr. Wilson," they heard a feeble voice call out from behind them. They turned to see one of Wilson's patients.

"You better go," House started, sarcastically. "It looks like she's in a hurry to find out how fast she's dying."

Wilson rolled his eyes at him before turning to walk back towards his patient and his office.

House turned again to his office. Hayden had her feet up on the ottoman listening to her iPod and Madison was throwing his ball against the wall. After his long sleepless night, this was the last thing he needed. He sighed deeply before opening the door and entering.

"You know you could've just waited until I got here," he said, making the two girls turn around to see him for the first time.

"Yeah, but we thought we'd be waiting until at least eleven," Madison said, "and we didn't want to wait that long. Why are you here so early?"

"I'm not early," he retorted, throwing his backpack across the back of his chair "I'm on time."

"I don't know," Hayden said sitting up in her seat, "he's been showing up a lot of places unexpectedly."

"You're in my locked office and you're talking about showing up in places unexpectedly. That's a li-," he started but was cut off.

"So you can intrude on our ballet class, but we can't wait for you in your office," Hayden told him.

His heart warmed a little at her comment. They were waiting for him. He fought off a smile as his mind wandered back to the sight of them sitting on the steps of the staircase when he opened the door after coming home from work.

"I thought you'd be a little more preoccupied getting ready for your trip to Baltimore," he said shaking the warm fuzzy feeling he had inside.

"We're not going to Baltimore," Madison quickly responded with a smile.

"Oh really," he said adding a little sarcasm to his tone to hide the elation in his voice.

"Yeah," she started again, "Brian's supposed to be coming over to our house for Christmas. But I guess one as-," she caught herself and looked at House as if she had just gotten into trouble.

A smile came across his face as he realized she still regarded him as an authority figure, and possible even her father.

"So why did you come to our class?" Hayden asked breaking the silence.

"Why?" he asked, "Was I not wanted?"

"I asked first," she said not willing to give more than he was willing to give.

"Not this again," Madison mumbled.

They stared at each other a few more moments before she again broke the silence.

"Com'on, you pick us up from a ballet class a few weeks before my seventh birthday, you disappear for eight years, then all of sudden you're suddenly interested in how our ballet lessons are going. What's the deal?"

She said it sternly and seriously, but he could tell she wasn't trying to make him feel bad about leaving. She just wanted answers. He saw the smile had disappeared from Madison's face and she was now staring at him waiting on the answer also.

"I thought you wouldn't miss me," he said a bit saddened.

"Yeah," Hayden started again, a little more upset this time, "your dad goes MIA for a few years and that's just something you totally overlook. I can see how that can happen," she said sarcastically.

"It was the best thing to do," he said trying to reason with her.

"God I'd hate to see what was the worst thing."

"Stop it Hayden," Madison commanded.

The older girl just looked at her sister for a while. She put the earphones back into her ears and turned the music up so loud that he could hear the drums and electric guitars blaring from the speakers. She just scowled at the floor as she let the music calm her emotions. She didn't leave though, and he knew that meant she wanted to be there with them, with him.

"So what are you doing for Christmas?" Madison asked trying to cut some of the tension left in the air.

"Nothing," he said, "I'm not a big Christmas person."

"Why don't you come to our house?" she asked.

He stared at her for a few moments before she continued.

"Well not for Christmas because Brian's going to be there, and I don't want Mom to spaz out again, but tomorrow…Christmas Eve."

"I'll see," he said returning her smile.

They talked for the next thirty minutes just him and her. He had tried to include Hayden in on the conversation, but she was giving him the silent treatment. By now he could tell she wasn't as upset as before. She wasn't as tense and the music coming from the speakers had softened a little. She also smiled every now and then at a remark that was made by either him or Madison. Their conversation would soon be interrupted though.

"I told you that you had clinic duty today," she said in a stern tone.

The girls just smiled at him, amused by the fact that he had once again managed to upset his boss. He saw the smiles on their faces and decided to turn the tables.

"They broke into my office...twice," he added.

"What?" she asked stepping into the office. "You're not even supposed to be in here."

"You're so right," Hayden said standing up. "Bye. Let's go Maddie," she said grabbing her sister's arm and fleeing towards the door.

"Bye Daddy," Madison managed to get out before being jerked from the office by Hayden.

They both just looked at the door that the girls had just exited through, House with a smile on his face and Cuddy a little shocked. The girls had long ago stopped referring to House as daddy or anything for that matter. She turned around to face him, her face still reading of shock and confusion.

"We need to talk," she said, coming closer to his desk. She finally saw that she needed to take Wilson's advice and be the adult in the situation. Someone had to step up and do it, for their kids' sake.

He knew what she wanted to talk about and he didn't like it. This was the one thing he had tried to avoid since the first day he saw them in her office, but subconsciously, he had walked right into it.

"What were you three talking about?" she questioned.

"I don't believe that's any of your business," he told her, as he got up to walk out of the office.

She stopped him by stepping in front of him and placing a hand on his chest.

"House, what are you doing?"

"You just told me to go to the clinic," he said trying to walk around her.

"House," she said stopping him again, "Madison just called you daddy.

"I know," he said, sarcastically, "I was there."

"Are you ready for that type of responsibility? Because if you're not you just need to walk away now."

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked getting a little offended. "They're my kids, I'll always be their dad. Me not anyone else, not your little boyfriend or whoever else you try to put in my place."

"I'm not trying to replace you in their lives, I know I could never do that," she began, sensing the hostility in his voice. "But you can't walk into their lives just because you're bored and playing the role of daddy helps you sleep better at night or keep you occupied or whatever, and then walk back out once you get bored with it. "

"That's not what I'm doing," he began half yelling now. "God, I know you think I'm an asshole, but I thought you would be the one person to know that I would never do anything like that to them."

"You did it before-," she started, but he cut her off.

"Com'on Lisa, you know I would never intentionally hurt them" he said taking them out of their business place and into their own personal place with the use of her first name. "You knew it was the best thing for me to leave, just like I knew it was."

"I never wanted you to leave," she told him, her emotions starting to show in her voice. "I did everything you asked of me, I gave you your space, I let you come and go as you pleased, no questions asked."

"I di-," he tried.

"No," she said cutting him off, "I covered for you every time they asked about you. I tried everything I could to help you, but that wasn't enough for you."

"Okay," he said raising his voice to talk over her, "I screwed up. I always screw up these types of things that's why I left. I'm programmed to screw things up, thanks to my so called father. I didn't want to do the same thing to them."

"Hey," Wilson said sticking his head in the door. House turned to look at him and Cuddy just looked at the floor. "You might want to quiet down a little, I can hear you from my office."

House nodded and he closed the door leaving them to continue their discussion in private.

"I don't care how you try to rationalize this," she said giving him a convicting stare, "you had no right to abandon them."

With that she turned and walked out of his office. Before he could go back into his office, Wilson saw her getting on the elevator, he decided to pay House a quick visit to make sure he was okay.

"Are you okay?" he asked sticking his head back into the office.

He didn't answer. He just sat in his chair staring at the wall intently, trying to shut out all the emotions that had been awaken within him.

"Look I know there's not much that I can really say, but….," he paused a little while. "Your dad failed to be a good father to you, but the only thing that's worst than failing is not having the courage to at least try."

House just stared at the wall. Wilson slowly closed the door and returned to his office, hoping his words would strike a chord with House sooner or later. He knew there were some deep seeded issues as to why House had left his family, but he never knew that it was because he was afraid of doing to them what his father had did to him and his mother.

* * *

"Mom?" Hayden said as she walked into Cuddy's office. "What's wrong?"  
She dried her eyes as best she could and put on a fake smile before she looked up at them.

"Hey ," she said, "nothing's wrong."

"Then why are you crying?" Madison asked as they walked over to the sofa she was sitting on.

"Nothing, it's nothing," she said wiping away a few more tears as they sat down on either side of her.

They sat in silence for a while letting her regain her composure. They didn't know what to say. They hadn't seen her cry in a long time, not to say that she didn't, but if she did, she did so alone. The emotional tension of it all had gotten to her. She was starting to feel things again, feelings she thought she had gotten over years ago. She wanted it to be like it was before he initially left. She left his office, hoping he would stop her from leaving and hold her, helping her to release all the pain and emotions she had experienced through the last eight years through a warm embrace. She wanted to tell him that she needed and wanted him to stay all those years ago and she wanted him to come back now. But she knew that wouldn't happen. She was also mad with herself for feeling like this too. She had let him go and sat aside these feelings for him years ago. Even so, she couldn't tell him what she was feeling, he wouldn't care. She wrapped one arm around Hayden as she leaned on her shoulder and ran the other hand through Madison's hair as she laid her head onto her lap. 'Maybe I never stopped having feelings for him,' she thought to herself.

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He reached to grab a file out of the bin and did a double take as he caught the sight of the three of them on the sofa. He could tell Cuddy had been crying and he inwardly cursed himself for getting her upset…and for the decision he made to leave them. She was right though, he did need to make a decision. Either he was there for the long haul, or he had to make the decision to walk away again. And he honestly didn't think his heart could make the latter of the choices again. As he turned his attention back to the chart Wilson's words echoed in his head.

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**A/N: I hope you guys are still liking it. Remember the more reviews the faster I'll update.**


	19. Chapter 19

"Who are you looking for Maddie?" Cuddy asked her as she walked into the living room.

"Nobody," Madison said as she turned away from the window facing their front yard.

Truth is she was looking for someone, someone she had invited over to spend Christmas Eve with them, but it looked like he wasn't going to show.

"So, you guys want to watch a scary movie on Christmas Eve?" Cuddy said before taking a sip of her hot cocoa.

They both looked at her like they didn't see the point behind her question. She had decided to still take Christmas Eve off so she could spend time with the girls and do some last minute shopping.

"It's a Christmas movie," Madison said.

"Yeah, Black Christmas," she informed them. "A movie about people getting slaughtered at Christmas time, that's cheery."

"Aww, don't be such a scrooge," Hayden said as she slouched down in the chair next to the sofa. She placed her feet on the coffee table, and laid back so her back was actually on the seat and her head against the lower part of the back of the chair.

Cuddy sat on the sofa with her feet tucked under her and Madison laid down on the floor after pressing play on the DVD player.

"Pause it," Cuddy said as her cell phone started to ring. They did and she picked up the phone. "Hey," she said as a smile spread across her face.

Madison and Hayden both rolled their eyes in disgust knowing it was Brian who was on the other end of the phone.

"I don't think I'll be able to come over tonight," he started, "but I'll be there early tomorrow morning so I can spend the entire day with you guys."

"Sounds good," she said a little disappointed that he wouldn't be coming over. "I'm sorry we couldn't come to Baltimore with you. I won't have the Izzy and Logan though, their grandfather passed last night."

"Sorry to hear that," he told her.

"Yeah, they're spending Christmas with their grandma," she told him.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow babe. Tell the girls I said hi," he told her.

"I will," she replied.

"I love you."

"I love you too," she replied.

"Oh God," Hayden said putting her hands over her face.

She hung up and rolled her eyes at Hayden. "Brian says hello," she told them.

They just stared at her as if she was crazy.

"Even though we're not going to Brian's parents' house tomorrow, you two will still be nice to him," she warned them.

"Sorry, I'm allergic to niceness," Madison told her.

"Well it's a good thing you're not allergic to being grounded," was her reply.

Madison made a short lived, sarcastically amused face at her mother.

"Doesn't this guy have somewhere else he can go for Christmas?" Hayden asked, but didn't allow Cuddy time to respond. "Oh wait, he does, he can go to Baltimore,_with his family_."

"Have fun now," she told them, "because you will be on your best behavior tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Madison said as she started the DVD player again, "back to the movie."

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He parked his car across the street and watched the warm, dim light coming from the living room window. He sat, rethinking his decision to show up at their home. This would be the turning point for him, there would be no turning back after this. He popped two vicodins before getting out of his car and walking across the street. He stopped when he got to the front door, and looked inside the front window. He looked at the silver and white decorated Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. There was a plate sitting in the middle of the coffee table, filled with cookies that they were sharing. "What the hell am I doing here?" he questioned himself. This wasn't who he was, he couldn't fit into this scene. He stared a little while and was about to turn to leave, when he heard Madison and Hayden start to laugh. Suddenly he remembered why he had came, he was invited here by his daughter. He couldn't walk away. She had made the first move by inviting him over, inviting him back into her life, and he didn't want to turn down that invitation; he didn't want to hurt her again. He took a deep breath and sighed before ringing the doorbell. He then turned back to the window and watched as Cuddy got up from the sofa and started to walk towards the door. She disappeared from the window and soon he heard the lock unlocking and the doorknob turning.

She froze when she saw him standing on the other side of the door. They stood there staring at each other, her surprised and him not really knowing what to say. She had on a slightly over sized dark gray sweat shirt and some thin pink cotton shorts that were barely visible under the long shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a few strands of hair framing her face. His breath got caught in his throat, he hadn't seen her like this in years, completely dressed down and she still took his breath away. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on. Seeing her like this reminded him of when she was an undergrad and he was a med student. They would meet at her dorm or his apartment so he could help her study or they would meet up for late nights at the library to study together the night before one of them had a exam. But no matter what she wore, the guys would always gawk at her and try to talk to her. She would entertain them sometimes, but turn them down nicely when they tried to make a move on her. Everyone had there suspicions about them being a couple even before they became a couple, but the constant bickering that ensued between them kind of threw everybody for a loop. In his mind, he had separated this side of her from her business side that she portrayed at work, the side he had deemed Cuddy way back when they were first really starting to get to know each other. It was still hard for him to be around her at work so this was killing him. He had learned to deal with being around Cuddy, but he didn't know how well he would manage being near her when she was Lisa.

She turned around and looked at the arch leading into the living room, making sure the girls had not followed her. His body started to tense when she took a few steps towards him and closed the door leaving a small crack in it so she could still feel the warmth from inside against the cold winter night. He took a few steps back to keep his composure, he couldn't let her get any closer than she was or he wouldn't be able to control himself. She folded her arms across her chest trying to keep warm. Her head tilted to the side as she opened her mouth to speak, but she did not break eye contact with him. She paused before beginning.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a calm and earnest tone.

He took a while to gather himself, before speaking. She was standing no more than two feet in front of him, in spite of his effort to keep his distance from her. He looked down at her as she looked up at him with those same beautiful eyes that used to win her so many arguments with him all those years ago.

"Uhmm," he said still trying to recover from the sight before him, "I was invited."

"By who?" she asked with her head still tilted to the side.

"Madison," he replied.

She raised one eyebrow at the sound of this. "YOU, accepted an invitation to spend Christmas Eve with someone other than your piano and your old pal Jack Daniels?" she questioned.

"You make it sound like I'm the Grinch," he retorted.

"Don't flatter yourself," she told him. "The Grinch had a dog that stuck around. If you had a dog it would either run away or die of depression."

"You're right," he said looking down at the ground. "I guess that title would be preserved for you, the she-Grinch. Being that your cup size is two sizes too small."

"That's funny," she stated, "because they always seem to attract your attention."

"Well the clothes you wear indicate that you're screaming for attention. It'd be rude of me not to stare."

The smile that had spread across her face dissipated into a sadden expression as she realized the reality of the situation. They were bantering like they were at work, but they weren't at work. They were in their personal worlds now. They were in front of her home, a place she never expected him to show up.

"Look,if you want me to leave," he started a little saddened by the answer he might receive, "I'll leave. They don't have to know that I was here." Normally he would have just bullied his way in, but he figured she knew what was best for the girls. He would not debate her about that.

She looked him in the eyes, studying him, before looking to the ground again. She slowly stepped back into the house and held the door open. She moved to the side a little signaling to him that he was welcomed to come in. He looked at her a while, giving her time to change her mind. When she didn't, he slowly followed her through the door. He stepped to the side allowing her to close the door. She had mixed feelings about allowing him to come in, but she knew that Madison wanted him there. She would never let her personal feelings stand in the way of her kids' happiness. But in the back of her mind, she wondered if she should be protecting them from the possible outcome of developing a relationship with House, again. They were old enough now to make this decision on their own. She didn't want to resent herself for not allowing them another chance to have their father in their lives, especially since it seemed to be what they wanted. If need be, she would be there to pick up the pieces again, but she hoped like hell that she wouldn't have to.

"Who was that at the door?" Hayden called from the living room.

They heard her walking towards the opening that connected the living room and the foyer. Cuddy looked at him with pleading eyes, as he handed her his coat. She knew once they saw him, it would be the point of no return. _'Please, don't make me regret this?'_ she thought to herself. He nodded as if reading her thoughts.

"Heeeyy, I know you," she heard Hayden say jokingly as she hung his coat in the closet. "Wow, you came back quick this time, we just saw you yesterday. You must've learned how to use mapquest."

"Hayden," Cuddy warned. She didn't want her to start, she didn't have the strength to deal with it tonight, not under the circumstances.

"What?" Hayden asked offended. "I was just joking."

"Hey," Madison said with a huge smile across her face as she stepped into the foyer. She had heard Hayden's remarks from the living room and knew it was House who was at the door, "I didn't think you were gonna come. Com'on we're watching a movie."

She grabbed his left hand and led him into the living room, leaving Hayden and Cuddy standing in the foyer. The look on Hayden's face almost made Cuddy go into a panic. She thought she was going to have to deal with one of her teenage tantrums, due to House being there. Instead, she just frowned and held her hand to her stomach.

"I'm starved," she said as she turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Cuddy exhaled. The initial fear of inviting him in was gone. She walked back into the living room to find House sitting on one end of the sofa and Madison sitting next to him. She walked over to the sofa and resumed her previous place at the end opposite of House, as she tried to get used to them all being in the same domestic setting again. Hayden soon joined them in the living room, and they all sat and watched the movie. It was fairly quiet other than the occasional comment by either Hayden or Madison about the movie, House and Cuddy being too uncomfortable with the situation to really say anything.

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"Well that really got me into the Christmas spirit," Cuddy said as she stood up from the sofa as the credits started to roll on the television.

"Are you going to bed?" Hayden asked as she got up to look through the DVDs that were shelved on the right side of the entertainment center.

"Yeah, I'm tired. And I have to get up early tomorrow to make Christmas dinner," she told her.

"I should get going too, it's getting late," House said grabbing his cane to get up from the sofa.

"Nooo," Madison pouted as she looked up at him. "You just got here. Can't you watch one more movie with us?...Pleeaase?"

She looked up at him as she leaned on his shoulder. His heart melted as her big blue eyes pleaded with him to stay. He couldn't tell her no, he never could. He looked over at Cuddy, making her take her eyes off of Madison and look at him.

"You can stay if you want to," she said, starting towards the door, "but I'm going to bed."

Cuddy disappeared down the hall and he sat back into the sofa, making another smile come to Madison's face.

"Big baby," Hayden said looking at Madison as she put the other DVD into the player.

"Shut up!" Madison spat back.

He smiled to himself. It kind of felt like old times. Madison would always use the puppy dog eyes and the pouty face with him to get her way and Hayden would always go head to head with him, always going to the extreme to make him cave. Two techniques they undoubtedly picked up from their mother. He looked back at the archway she hadn't so long ago disappeared through. He contemplated getting up and going into her bedroom, partly just to annoy her, but also to see how she would react to him in a more personal setting with just the two of them. Could he still have the effect on her that he had on her years ago? Would she still melt into his arms with the slightest touch from him? Did he remember all the right places to touch and kiss and how to do so? He decided that he would have to explore this at another time, a time when the girls weren't there.

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**A/N: Thanks for the comments guys. I was gonna update earlier, but my computer started acting up. Hope you like it.**


	20. Chapter 20

She passed one hand through her tousled curls and held a mug of hot apple cider in the other hand as she walked from the kitchen towards the living room. She had just finished preparing the food in the kitchen, and decided to take a break after putting the turkey in the oven. She walked into the living room for the first time that morning to see Madison curled up in one chair and Hayden wrapped in a blanket on the floor in front of the television with her head on one of the pillows from the sofa. She saw a cane propped up against the wall and that was when she first noticed that he had spent the night there. As she stepped further into the living room, she could see him laid out on the sofa. She didn't know what time they had went to sleep so she decided to let them sleep. She sat in the empty chair across from Madison and took a sip of her cider. A smile spread across her face as she watched them sleep. The scene was sort of funny to her. To an outsider looking in they would seem like the perfect family getting ready to spend Christmas day together, but that was so far from the truth. She had to hold back a laugh at the thought. Her eyes rested on him for a little while before she looked towards the floor, and her eyes glazed over as she thought back to one of her most memorable Christmases, sixteen years ago.

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It was Christmas Eve and a soon to be twenty-three year old Lisa Cuddy sat on the floor of the small home she shared with her then boyfriend of two years off and on, Gregory House, who had not returned home from work yet. The sun had went down hours ago and he had called to say that he would be a little late getting home. She had her knees pulled up almost to her chest and her head rested in her hands. Her mind was racing and her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest. 'God, what am I going to do if I am?' she thought to herself. She put both hands to her chest and took a deep breath trying to calm her breathing and stop herself from shaking. She looked at the timer she had sitting on the counter, two more minutes.

This was the longest five minutes of her life. She leaned her head back on the wall, trying to keep her tears from falling. "My parents are going to hate me," she said to herself. She was halfway through her first year of medical school and her boyfriend was in his second year of residency at a local hospital. As if she wasn't already a big enough disappointment to them. She laughed a little at this thought, other parents wouldn't be able to stop bragging to their friends if their child had accomplished what she had. She had graduated from college magna cume laude, conquered the MCAT and was already half-way through her first year of medical school and was ranked very high in her class at one of the top medical schools in the country. She was also dating a second year resident, who had graduated from the University of Michigan's medical school, was currently doing his residency at Hopkins, and had a very promising future in medicine. They hated him though and they didn't want her to date him, they didn't even want her to become a doctor. She was supposed to be a stay home mother like her mother was, or get a job that was considered a 'woman's job' as they liked to call it. Not that she didn't want kids, she definitely wanted kids, but she wanted it all, a family and her career. She sighed and looked at the timer again, one minute.

'They are definitely going to hold this against me if I am,' she thought. 'I'm not even married, I haven't even made it halfway through med school, and I might be…' she couldn't even complete the thought. She sighed and ran her fingers through her messy hair and tugged at the ends. 'What is he going to say? What if he doesn't want kids now?' she thought. She folded her arms over her knees and leaned her forehead on her forearms, as she let the tears begin to flow freely. She had known him for almost five years, dated him on and off for almost two and a half years and had never heard him openly say that he wanted children. Sure he used to amuse her when she bought up the subject, but he never outwardly said that he wanted any. She jumped as the timer went off, shaking her from her thoughts and bringing her back to the task at hand.

She tried to control her shakes as she rose from the floor. She stood in front of the sink and glanced at the little white square shaped object sitting on the edge of the bath tub she had taken from the hospital's storage room, before looking into the mirror. She wiped away the remaining tears and took a deep breath. "Just look at it Lisa," she whispered to her reflection. She glanced once more at the object sitting on the tub before walking over to it. She closed her eyes and picked it up and said one last prayer before opening her eyes again…two blue lines. She was two months pregnant. She just stared in shock, her brain not being able to register the conflicting emotions of fear and joy. She couldn't cry she couldn't move, she just stared at it. She placed it back on the tub and sat on top of the toilet. She finally exhaled before placing her hand on her slightly pudgier than normal stomach. A small smile came to her face as she felt the warmth of her on skin in the palm of her hand. She was going to have a baby…his baby. She was again shaken from her own thoughts as she heard him coming up the stairs of their home.

"Lise," he called out to her, "you here?"

A look of panic quickly replaced her smile as she tossed the little white square and its box into the trash bin, planning to take the trash out later.

"In here," she said stepping out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.  
She tried to get herself together, so he wouldn't notice anything was wrong, but she forgot who she was dating. He noticed everything.

"Hey," he said as he walked into the bedroom. His smile quickly changed to a frown when he saw her face.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked concerned.

"Nothing's wrong," she replied quickly. "I'm just tired."

"Are you sure?" he asked placing his hands on her shoulder. "Because if you-,"

"Greg," she said cutting him off. "I'm just a little stressed, and I'm tired. I just need to take a nap and I'll be fine."

He looked at her not believing her, but knowing she wouldn't talk about it until she was ready, he decided to let it go.

"Okay, you rest," he said before kissing her on the forehead. "I'm going to take a shower and get out of these scrubs."

She smiled at him and went over to the bed. He dropped his back pack at the foot of the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. As she laid her head back on the pillow she realized just how tired she really was. Within three minutes, she had fallen fast asleep.

The next thing she knew was she was being gently shaken from her dreams.

"Lisa," she heard him say as she slowly opened her eyes. He had now changed into one of his cotton t-shirts and a pair of loose fitting jeans. He stooped at the side of the bed so they could see each other eye to eye.

"Hmm?" she mumbled, still drowsy.

"Baby, who's is this?" he asked with a confused look on his face, as he held up the little white box. "Is this yours?"

She was wide awake now, and she just stared at him. A look of fear registered on her face, giving him his answer.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. He had had his suspicions, but since she hadn't said anything, he had brushed it off.

"I," she started but stopped to wipe away a few tears that were starting to fall. She regained her composure as he rubbed her side, still looking at her. "I just found out today. I was going to tell you, but I didn't know how. I didn't know if you wanted a baby or not." She stopped as the tears started to flow.

"Don't cry. What are you crying for?" he asked as he climbed in the bed behind her and rolled her to her other side to face him. He pulled her into him letting her cry into his chest. "Of course I want our baby."

She continued to cry, more now of joy rather than fear. She still had to tell her family. He held her a little while longer, figuring that she just needed to cry to get it out of her system.

"How am I going to finish school?" she asked still crying a little.

"Lisa you'll finish," he reassured her. "I'm going to be finished with my residency in a few years and the real money will start to kick in, so money won't be a problem. You can talk to the people at the school and they'll work something out with you, I'm sure. They have a counselor for these types of situations."

He held her a little while longer and her tears started to subside. She felt one of his hands on her stomach.

"God this kid is going to be bad ass," he said with a small chuckle.

She started laughing a little as she pulled her head away from his chest to look up at his face that bared a huge grin. She smiled at him.

"We still have to tell my parents," she informed him.

He leaned his head back and laughed a little.

"Your Dad is going to be so pissed," he told her. "I love you so much, we have just royally screwed your parents."

She punched him in the stomach, making him move his hand from her stomach to his.

"Oww," he said as he looked down at her. "What'd you do that for?"

She just looked at him with a serious expression on her face.

"Of course that's just one of the perks," he told her, knowing he had upset her a little.

He stared into her eyes for a little while before he spoke again. "I love you Lisa," he told her, bringing a smile back to her face.

"I love you too," she replied as he wrapped his arms around her.

They laid like that for a few more hours, talking about the soon to be change in their lives, what it was going to be like, what the gender of the baby would be, and all the stuff that soon to be first time parents would talk about, before drifting into a peaceful sleep in each others arms.

"What are you smiling about?" she heard a rugged voice ask.

She looked over to see that House was awake and now staring at her.

"Nothing," she said as she tried to stop smiling.

"Let me guess," he started as he sat up on the sofa, "you were thinking about Adam?"

She looked at him, with the smile completely gone from her face now.

"His name is Brian," she told him, not bothering to tell him he was wrong.

"Same thing," he said, looking at the clock.

They sat in comfortable silence a little while longer, each of them lost in their own thoughts. He looked over at her and watched her slowly sip from the olive green mug she held in her hands, her eyes indicating that her thoughts had taken her someplace other than their current setting. The doorbell rang and she quickly placed the mug on the table before walking out of the living room. He started to put on his shoes as she did this.

"Merry Christmas," he heard a male's voice coming from the other room.

"Merry Christmas," he heard her reply.

He grabbed his cane and stepped into the foyer to see them hugging. He had one arm around her waist and the other held onto some bags. She had her arms wrapped around his neck staring up into his eyes. Brian's smile dissipated when he noticed House standing in the archway leading to the living room staring at them.

"I didn't know you had company," he told her , loosening his grip on her.

"Oh," Cuddy said as she turned her body slightly to look at House also, "uhm, he came over last night to watch movies with the girls."

The two men just stood there staring at each other. Cuddy felt Brian's grip on her become a little tighter, and she notice that tension had filled the room.

"Com'on," she said as she grabbed Brian's hand, trying to break the uncomfortable silence "the girls are in the living room."

She led him into the living room pass House.

"Madison, Hayden," she spoke loudly, "wake up."

Both of the girls stirred slightly, but never opened their eyes. She walked into the living room and shook Hayden a little before doing the same to Madison.

"Guys wake up," she told them once more.

This time Hayden didn't open her eyes, but groaned loudly letting them know she was awake, but was not happy about it. Madison opened her eyes and blinked a little before looking up at Cuddy.

"What time is it?" she grumbled, as she pulled the cover up to her chin.

"It's 9:30," she said looking down at her.

"Wake me up at noon?" she said closing her eyes again.

"No," Cuddy replied as she snatched the cover from Madison. "Get up Brian's here," she demanded.

"Yaay!" Hayden said tiredly, sounding sarcastically enthused. "I knew Santa got my wish list," she continued before turning her head in the opposite direction to try and fall back asleep.

'She really is like this all the time,' House thought to himself as Hayden's comment brought a smile to his face.

Cuddy looked over to the door and frowned at him when she saw the smile on his face. He just gave her an innocent look. She snatched the cover off of Hayden and threw it on the sofa along with the one she had snatched from Madison.

"Get up," she commanded. "Go take a shower and get dressed."

"You are seriously going to keep talking, aren't you?" Hayden said as she raised her head up from the pillow.

Cuddy just gave her a sarcastic smile.

"Fine," Hayden said as both girls got up and proceeded to go upstairs.

Brian watched the girls disappear upstairs.

"Sorry about that," Cuddy said as she looked at Brian.

He turned to House.

"I'm not really sorry for the half that's my fault ," he said with a smug look on his face.

"Are you spending the day here?" he asked, obviously annoyed at House's presence.

"No," Cuddy quickly intervened, as she walked back towards the archway. "He was just about to leave."

She pulled House back into the foyer towards the coat closet.

"Boy they seem to really like him," he said as she opened to closet to get his coat. "He'll be getting the award for step dad of the year."

She handed him his coat.

"Goodbye House," she told him as she opened the front door.

"Merry Christmas," he said as she pushed him out of the front door.

"Merry Christmas," she said before closing the door.

He stood staring at the door for a moment, before reluctantly turning to leave.

She leaned on the other side of the door and closed her eyes, as she let out a sigh of relief. She didn't want to push him out like that, but she knew him, and he would surely say something he had no business. She opened her eyes to see Brian staring at her.

"What?" she asked confused by the serious expression on his face.

"So he can spend the night, but I can't?" he asked a little upset.

"Brian," she said as she walked over to him, "he slept in the living room with the girls. I was in my bedroom and had no idea he spent the night."

He just rolled his eyes at her.

"It's Christmas," she told him as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "don't let this ruin our day."

He looked down at her for a little while before replying "Okay, but I get to spend New Years Eve here," he said wrapping his arms around her, "and I'm not sleeping in the living room."

She smiled and looked up at the ceiling. "Deal," she said as he leaned down to kiss her.

She looked up to see Madison walking down the stairs. She stopped in her tracks when she saw them.

"I think I'm going to throw up," she said as she turned to go back upstairs, no longer concerned about what she had came down for.

"Give them time," she told him as she tilted her neck up to kiss him again.

* * *

**A/N: I'm glad you guys are liking the characters. I know this story is far fetched, but I wanted to do something that nobody else has done, well exactly anyways.**


	21. Chapter 21

He sat in his office, squeezing a blue stress ball in his right hand, thinking about the recent changes that had occurred in his life. He didn't know what to do about his situation. He wanted to right his wrongs with them, if that was possible, but he didn't know how to go about doing it. It had all grown so foreign to him. He didn't know how to live a life where he had to constantly think about his actions and their effects on other people, other people that he loved. He didn't know how to let people in anymore. He never got too close to any of his patients and he never allowed anyone he met to get too close to him. The only person that really knew his true feelings was Wilson, and he wasn't sure what was going on with him all the time. He had pushed everyone he was close to away a long time ago, he even pushed her away. He had always counted on everyone around him to be the mature one when it came to their not so personal relationships with him. But he would have to be the mature one to develop a relationship with his kids, he would have to be their father. He didn't know if he could succeed at this task, but he did know that he couldn't walk away again. He had hurt them too much already, and he had to try to fix it, he just hoped that he wouldn't hurt them anymore in the process... That was it, he made up his mind to again, become a father to his two girls, or as close to a father as they would allow him to be.

But why was something about the situation still nagging at him. He sighed and his grip around the ball became tighter as he thought about what had happened Christmas day. Seeing her in his arms; having to leave his family on Christmas while Brian stayed with them. He slammed the ball down on the desk. Why was she even with this guy? He thought a little while longer before Wilson's words echoed in his head, '…she's happy…'. He loosened his grip on the ball and started to gently squeeze and release it again. She was happy, and that was what he wanted. But he was conflicted; he wanted her to be happy with him. He saw the way she was around the guy, how she would smile when she talked to him on the phone, the passion in her eyes when she looked at him. He lowered his head a little as he thought about how she had pushed him out the door. 'I will always love you…' he heard her voice echo in his head. 'Could she possibly still love me?' he thought to himself. Suddenly his mind flashed back to that night and he saw the hurt in her eyes. The same beautiful eyes that used to reflect love and passion when she looked at him was full of hurt and resentment. He shifted a little in his chair trying to shake the image from his thoughts. She had hired him, saved his ass on many occasions at the hospital when the board members tried to oust him, and she stayed with him at the hospital after he had almost killed himself doing the deep brain stimulation after Amber had died and on many other occasions that required him to be hospitalized or on bed rest. He knew she didn't hate him, but could she love him still after he hurt her so badly.

He was awakened from his thoughts by Kutner coming through the door of his office.

"Cuddy says we can't do the test," he told him.

"How does Cuddy know we're even doing the test," he asked him annoyed.

He just shrugged his shoulders and continued looking at him waiting for further instructions. House grabbed his cane and stood up. He grabbed the file from Kutner and proceeded to walk towards the door.  
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"How do you expect me to figure out what's wrong with these people if you don't allow me to do any of my tests?" House yelled as he barged into Cuddy's office.

"There are a lot more tests that you can do that are safer," she informed him as she stood up from her desk. "You don't have to always do the most dangerous tests you know."

"Yes, but the most dangerous tests brings him closer to dying sooner, which usually gives me a lot more information sooner, " he started. "By the time I finish doing all the tests you want me to do he'll be just as close to dying as he would've been if I'd done my test."

"So what's your point?" she asked him, not moved by his argument.

"My point is that controlled dying is better than sporadic dying. If it's controlled at least we have a better reason of why he's dying," he said taking a few steps towards her.

She just leaned back on her desk and folded her arms, unfazed by his glare. He studied her a little while to see if she would give.

"This is insane," he started out again, "I'm his doctor. It's my job to do what needs to be done to find out what's wrong with him."

"I'm his doctor's boss," she stated in a calmer tone, as she leaned off of the desk to stand toe to toe with him. "It's my job to make sure his doctor doesn't kill him."

They were now standing right in front of each other, as if they were engaging in a mental battle for power.

"You do know I'm bigger than you," he told her, as he looked down at her.

"I'm faster," she told him not moved by his comment.

Their positions relative to one another seemed a little more personal after the events of the past few weeks. She shifted uncomfortably and shortly broke eye contact, clearly bothered by his closeness. He studied her a little while longer before a smirk came to his face. He turned to head towards the door.

"You still love me," he told her as he reached for the knob.

"In your dreams," she told him.

He gasped as he turned around to look at her one last time. "Did Wilson tell you that?" He asked not really expecting an answer. He had just said it because he knew it would leave her confused and speechless, and judging by the expression on her face and the lack of words coming out of her opened mouth, he was right. He had had the last word.

When she did snap back to her senses, he was already walking out of the doors at the front of the clinic. 'What the hell did he mean by that?' she thought to herself.

* * *

It was six p.m. on New Years Eve. House sat at his piano playing random pieces from his music book. He placed a pill in his mouth and dry swallowed it before drinking some of the bourbon he had sitting on top of the piano. He started to play again, but stopped when he heard a knock at the door. He hesitated before getting up, wondering who it could be. He took his time getting up from the bench and walking over to the door. He was about half way to the door before he heard another knock and a familiar voice follow.

"Dude open up, it's freezing out here."

A smile came to his face at the recognition of the voice. He opened the door to see Hayden and Madison dusting the snow off of their coats.

"I need twenty bucks to pay the cab driver," Hayden said holding out her hand.

"Hey," Madison said as she walked pass him.

He hesitated before reaching into his pocket and handing Hayden a twenty dollar bill. She left to go pay the cab driver, and he turned around to see Madison taking off her coat and getting comfortable. He just watched for a while as she started to look around his apartment.

"And I thought my room was a mess," she said.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, as Hayden walked through the door, shutting it behind her.

"Thought you might need some company to bring in the New Year," Madison told him as she sat on the sofa.

"You should really clean this place up," Hayden said observing the books that were scattered all over the place.

He grabbed a stack of magazines that he didn't want the girls to see and proceeded to hide them in a desk drawer.

"How did you know where I lived?" he asked as Hayden picked up the glass of Bourbon and started to smell it. He removed the glass from her hand and glared at her.

"Your BFF of course," she told him.

He looked at the girls as they both now stood in front of him.

"And the backpacks?" he said motioning to the backpacks that were thrown on the sofa.

"You don't mind if we spend the night do you?" Madison asked. "Brian is supposed to be coming over to our house, and I can't take another day with him."

"So can we stay?" Hayden asked, walking over to the electric guitar that stood in the corner of the apartment. She picked it up and eyed the small amplifier in the corner before looking back to him for his answer.

"Yeah, you can stay," he told them, after contemplating it for a while.

"Can we clean this place up a little and get something to eat?" Madison asked.

Before he could answer they heard a loud chord coming through the speaker of the amplifier. They both looked over to see Hayden's face glowing.

"Awesome," she said laughing a little.

He smiled at her and then something dawned on him.

"Does your mother know you're here?" he asked looking back and forth between them.

* * *

"What's wrong with you?" Wilson asked Cuddy as she stood in the doorway of his office looking confused.

"Have you seen Hayden or Madison?" she asked him. "I've been looking all over for them. The weather is starting to get really bad, so I wanna hurry and get home."

"The last time I saw them was maybe an hour or so ago," he told her.

"Did they say where they were going?"

"No," he started, "they just came in here asking…" he trailed off. "They're at House's apartment."

"What are they doing over there?"

"I don't know," he said. "They just started asking questions about him, and I told them where he lived."

She sighed heavily before turning to leave out of his office. Now she had to go over to his apartment to pick them up.

Forty-five minutes later she sat in her car just outside of his apartment. She looked at the snow that had began to fall twice as heavy as it was falling an hour ago, relieved to turn off the engine after the accident she had almost had. She was already wet from the melted snow that had clung to her clothes and hair earlier. She got out of her car and walked over to the entrance of his apartment building. Before she even got in the building she could hear the sound of an electric guitar and the blasting of a stereo. It only got louder as she got closer to his door. She knocked loudly, but no one answered.

"House," she yelled as she knocked even louder.

Instead of his door opening, the neighbor's across the hall door opened revealing a short, heavy-set older man. The man looked at her as if she was the source of the noise that was obviously disturbing him.

"Do you live here?" he asked her.

"No, I'm just trying to get my kids," she replied a little embarrassed.

"He has your kids?" the man asked surprised as he pointed towards House's apartment.

She just nodded.

"I don't know you," he started, "but I'm sure there's thousands of other people you can find-"

"Oh no," she said cutting him off, "he's their father."

The man just looked at her even more confused and surprised. He looked at her as if something was wrong with her. It was about this time she noticed that the song had gone off and the sound of the guitar had ceased. She took this moment to get their attention and get away from the man in the hallway.

"House open up," she said beating on the door.

About five seconds later House opened the door. She hurried inside as the man from across the hall just glared at House. The man looked away and closed his door, having learned his lesson from previous disputes with his neighbor. When she entered the apartment she was able to see where the loud sounds were coming from. Hayden was standing on the sofa with the electric guitar in her hand and Madison was standing by the stereo with the volume turned all the way up, ready to press play again. She looked around the apartment amazed at how clean it was. She had been to his apartment a few times before on business and every time she had came it was a mess.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?" she asked them.

"You were busy," Madison simply said.

"Why didn't you call me?" she asked turning to House.

"I figured Wilson would tell you," he told her.

"You still could've called," she said before turning back to the girls. "Get your things, so we can go."

"We're spending the night here," Hayden informed her.

"No, you're not, it's New Years Eve. We have to get home, Brian's expecting us."

"No, he's expecting you," she told her.

"I told them they could stay," House chimed in. "I didn't think it would be a problem." They just stared at each other.

"Can we stay mom," Hayden questioned, breaking the silence that had ensued in the room. "Please."

She just stared at them studying their pleading expressions.

"But we've always brought in the New Year together," she told them.

"Then stay here," Hayden offered.

"I can't, I promised Brian."

"Then go, we'll be fine," Madison said.

"Whatever you're going to do, you better hurry up and decide," House told her. "It's snowing pretty heavy. It's almost impossible to drive out there."

She looked at him confused that he didn't protest about her staying. She had never spent New Years Eve away from the girls, and didn't want to start now. She also didn't want to make them leave since they had taken it up on themselves to come over to his apartment, that meant they wanted to be there with House, and from the looks of things, he wanted them there too. All eyes were on her, waiting for her to make a decision. She thought a little while before speaking.

"Let me call Brian and cancel," she said pulling out her cell phone. She dialed his number and told him that she was stuck at House's apartment. Needless to say he was very upset about her canceling on him and even more so that she was going to spend New Year's Eve with House. She apologized and told him that she wouldn't be able to make it home with the weather the way it was. She also reassured him that there was no need for him to be concerned about her and House. They ended the conversation with him still not happy about the situation. It was then she realized that she was soaked and had no change of clothing. House seemed to be reading her mind and offered her a change of clothing. She went into the bathroom to take a shower, and he went to the hall closet to get a blanket for himself. He would give them the bed, and he would sleep on the sofa.

"Where's our blanket?" Madison asked as he came back into the living room.

"You guys and your mother can have the bed," he told them.

"We're sleeping in here," Hayden informed him.

"Why?"

"We always sleep in the living room," Madison answered.

He returned to the closet to get a few more blankets and came back in to find them lying on the floor watching Happy Feet. He gave them the blankets and sat down on the sofa to join them, not sure that he wanted to watch an animated film. Surprisingly he was starting to like the movie, maybe because he had been forced to watch so many cartoon films with them when they were little. He was interrupted from the movie when Cuddy appeared at the end of the hallway. Her hair was still wet from her shower and his clothes were almost swallowing her. He couldn't do anything but stare with his mouth open. She noticed this and blushed a little before joining him on the couch.

This time they were all a little more comfortable with the setting and the conversation flowed openly. She was pleased to see a side of him that she hadn't seen in a long time. He was so loving towards the girls and even a little more open towards her. She was still a little uncomfortable though, but for another reason. Seeing him like this was bringing all those feelings back again. She thought it would be a miserable night, but she was actually happy that she had decided to stay there with them.


	22. Chapter 22

It was now 2:30 am and everyone was sleeping except for House. He was sitting on the sofa massaging his leg. Cuddy had fallen asleep in his bed after checking and responding to her emails on her laptop in his room while he and the girls were watching movies. He had to argue with her to take the bed over the sofa, but now he was starting to regret not letting her take the sofa. He could not get comfortable on the sofa with his leg and he was thinking about joining her in his bed. It would also be a good opportunity for him to mess with her. He popped a couple of pills, got up off of the couch and limped out of the living room and down the hall to his bedroom. He stepped into the dark room that was illuminated only by the moon. She was lying in his bed with the covers pulled up to her hips, obviously to cover her bare legs since she had discarded the over sized sweats on the chair next to his bed. She had one hand between the pillow and her face and the other arm rested across her stomach. The shirt he had given her hung loosely and exposed one of her shoulders. He took in the site of her lying in his bed for a little while before walking to the other side. It was then he noticed that she was lying in the middle of the bed, and he would not be able to lie down without making some contact with her. He sat on the bed and instead of trying to complete the impossible, he embraced the inevitable. He laid down close behind her and slid his arm under her arm that lay loosely around her waist. He pulled her closer to him, sure she would wake up and yell at him, but she didn't wake at all. Instead, she just relaxed against his chest and seemed to fall into a deeper sleep. A soft sighing sound escaped her as she did this. He was a little taken back seeing that her reaction was the exact opposite of what he had expected. The warmth of her body against his and her scent filling his nostrils was enough to relax him. He didn't move away from her for a few reasons, he didn't have anywhere else to move, he didn't want to, and he would eventually get his chance to annoy her when she woke up and found that she was wrapped in his arms.

Thirty minutes later, he was about to dose off when he felt her stirring. He knew she was awake because he felt her fingers moving against his hand. She slowly turned over to face him, and he kept his arm wrapped around her waist. She just stared at him for a moment, before speaking.

"House, what are you doing?" Her tone surprised him she didn't seem mad at all.

"I was about to go to sleep," he informed her. "But if you have something else in mind…"

"I thought you were going to sleep on the sofa," she said, interrupting him.

He stared at her. Her words were indicating that she didn't want him to be lying next to her, but he did notice that she had made no attempt to free herself from his arms.

"My leg started hurting," he told her.  
She stared at him before starting to move away from him, but he held on tight and didn't let her move.

"I'm cold," he said sarcastically when she looked back at him.

"I have to pee," she informed him.

He stared a little while longer before allowing her to move away from him. She turned on the lights in the bathroom and looked into the mirror. She couldn't help, but to smile at how good it had felt to feel his body against hers again. She did her business and, after washing her hands, looked up again at her self in the mirror. She debated sleeping on the sofa, but didn't want to give up the comfortableness of his bed for the sofa. She convinced herself it was because she was tired and not because she wanted to be closer to him. She couldn't let herself give into her reemerging feelings for House. She thought about the spat they had had in her office the other day and how he had left the conversation, and about how he had acted earlier that night, and his little stunt he pulled in the bedroom, but didn't think he was serious. She knew that he was still sexually attracted to her because of all the sexual innuendos he conveyed towards her, but she thought that was the extent of his attraction towards her. She didn't think he shared the same feelings as her, and if he did, she couldn't allow herself to be hurt again.

He laid in his bed feeling a little disappointed that she wasn't lying beside him anymore. He was also thinking about how she hadn't bothered to hit him for curling up next to her. This made him a little upset. Why was her presence and her relationship affecting him so much lately. His kids was one thing, it was natural to love your kids, to want to do everything you can for them, so he could accept that, he wanted to accept that. But having these feelings for her meant he was making himself vulnerable. He would be putting his heart on the line, giving her all the power to crush him. He couldn't allow himself to do that, not like he did before. The sound of her cell phone vibrating on his nightstand shook him from his thoughts. He picked it up and saw Brian's name on the caller id and decided to answer.

"Hello?"

"Is Lisa there?" Brian asked in a calm voice.

"Yeah, but she's asleep," he told him in a snarky tone.

Brian sighed before answering. "Then why are you answering her phone?"

"Uhh, because it's on my nightstand…_in my bedroom_," House told him, knowing this would make him pissed.

"Look -," Brian started, but was cut off by House.

"Oh, sorry gotta go," House said as he heard Cuddy come out of the bathroom.

He hung up and turned the phone off knowing that Brian would call back. He thought she would go straight into the living room and sleep on the sofa, but to his surprise, she showed up back at the entrance to his bedroom. She slowly walked over to the bed, as he stared at her.

"I don't want to sleep on your sofa," she told him. "The bed is more comfortable, and I'm tired."

She crawled back under the covers and stayed on her side of the bed. She felt the covers moving a little and knew what he was doing.

"House," she warned him.

He smiled and stayed on his side of the bed. But little did this help, it was like they were drawn to each other.

He woke up to the numbers 7:24 staring at him. It was Saturday and he was happy that he didn''t have to go to work, seeing as he hardly got any sleep last night. He could see the daylight coming through the blinds, and he also felt something or someone lying on his arm with their head on his chest; a body of warmth lying next to him and strands of hair that wasn't his rubbing up against his neck. He looked down to see her sleeping on his chest. His arm was wrapped around her and his fingers lingered on her thigh, right where the fabric of the t-shirt met her warm flesh. He smiled as he saw the serene expression on her sleeping face. This and the feeling of her body on him and her flesh on his finger tips made it hard for him to deny his feelings for her. He brushed a few strands of hair from her face, so he could fully appreciate the beauty that was her. He watched her sleep for a while, before she started to stir, and her eyes fluttered open. She looked around the room trying to remember where she was before she looked up at him.

"I told you to stay on your side of the bed," she told him tiredly, still not seeming to worry about removing herself from his hold.

"This time you met me half way," he told her, making her realize that they were both in the middle of the bed.

"Looks like you were cold too," he continued. "Or hot…for me."

She looked at him disapprovingly before moving to get up from the bed, but she realized that she had taken the sweats off before going to bed.

"Can you hand me those pants off of the chair?" she asked him as she sat up in the bed.

He reached his arm out as if trying to reach for the pants, but made no actual effort to do so.

"I can't reach them," he told her with a mock disappointed look on his face.

She rolled her eyes at him, knowing that he would make her get up just so he could see her without pants on. She fought him for the covers to take them with her, but he held on tight to them. Knowing it was the only way she was going to get the pants, she reluctantly got up and walked over to the chair. She gasped and grabbed her backside when she felt his hand come into contact with her butt, making a slapping sound. She turned around and glared at him as he sat there looking innocent.

"Sorry, my hand slipped," he told her.

She rolled her eyes and slipped on the sweatpants rolling the waist band into itself, so they wouldn't fall off so easily, and walked out of the room leaving him alone with his thoughts. About five minutes later he got up and tried to go into the bathroom, but the door was locked.

"Can I get my pills?" he asked through the door.

About five seconds later, the door opened and he caught the bottle of pills that was lunged at his chest.

"Thank you," he said sarcastically.

He went into his room and sat down on the bed, before popping two vicodins, and waiting his turn to gain use of the bathroom. About two minutes later she entered back into the bedroom, and he got up to leave.

"Thanks for letting me use MY bathroom," he told her, as he walked towards the door.

"You're Welcome," she told him just as sarcastically as him.

A few seconds later he was back at the bedroom door.

"Unless you're willing to trade some of your _stuff_," he said looking her up and down, "for my stuff, stop using my stuff," he told her seeing that she had opened the extra toothbrush he kept in his medicine cabinet.

He went into the bathroom and closed the door and commenced his morning routine. When he emerged from the bathroom, he was met with the alluring smell of freshly brewed coffee. He made his way down the hall and peeped into the living room to see that Hayden and Madison were still asleep, he continued to the kitchen. Cuddy was sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee. He opened the cabinets and grabbed a box of pop tarts, taking two from their package and placing them in the toaster. He poured himself a cup of coffee and turned on the small clock radio on the counter, before he watched her check her email again on her laptop. He stared at her as the music started to flow softly from the speakers of the radio.

"Don't worry," she said feeling his eyes on her, "we'll be out of your hair as soon as the girls wake up."

That wasn't what he was thinking and it desolated him for her to think that he would think that way about them, but he didn't let it show.

"No one works on a holiday," he said changing the subject, "especially when it's on a Saturday."

She glared at him over the top of the computer as he sat down across the table form her with his coffee and pop tarts.

"No," she corrected him, "you don't work on holidays or Saturdays…or Mondays for that matter."

He bit into the pop tart as she turned her full attention back to the computer both listened to the words that were softly coming through the speakers now, hoping that the other was not paying attention.

'You used to talk to me like,I was the only one around.  
You used to lean on me like,The only other choice was falling down.  
You used to walk with me like, We had nowhere we needed to go,  
Nice and slow, to no place in particular.

We used to have this figured out;  
We used to breathe without a doubt.  
When nights were clear, you were the first star that I'd see.  
We used to have this under control.  
We never thought, we used to know.  
At least there's you, and at least there's me.  
Can we get this back?  
Can we get this back to how it used to be?

I used to reach for you when, I got lost along the way.  
I used to always have just the right thing to say.  
I used to follow you. Never really cared where we would go,  
Fast or slow, to anywhere at all.

We used to have this figured out;  
We used to breathe without a doubt.  
When nights were clear, you were the first star that I'd see.  
We used to have this under control.  
We never thought. We used to know.  
At least there's you, and at least there's me.  
Can we get this back?  
Can we get this back to how it used to be?

I look around me, And I want you to be there  
'Cause I miss the things that we shared.  
Look around 's empty, and you're sad  
'Cause you miss the love that we had.

You used to talk to me like, I was the only one around,  
The only one around.

We used to have this figured out;  
We used to breathe without a doubt.  
When nights were clear, you were the first star that I'd see.  
We used to have this under control.  
We never thought. We used to know.  
At least there's you, and at least there's me.  
Can we get this back?  
Can we get this back to how it used to be? Yeah.  
To how it used to be. To how it used to be, yeah.  
To how it used to be.  
To how it used to be.'

She got up and left out of the kitchen before returning a few moments later with her cell phone and a confused look on her face. She thought her battery had died, but when she turned it on it was fully charged.

"Seven missed calls," she said sitting down at the table. "How did my cell phone get turned off, I hope it was nothing urgent."

House just looked at her not willing to tell on himself. She flipped the phone open to see that only two of the calls were from people at the hospital, the other five were from Brian. She checked her messages, and the people from the hospital were only calling to wish her a Happy New Year, the message from Brian gave her the answer she was looking for.

"Lisa what's going on?" the message started with him sounding infuriated. "First you call and cancel on me to spend New Years with your kids' father, who I just so happen not to like. Then when I call your phone he answers and tells me that you're sleeping in the bed with him…-"

She held the phone to her ear but did not hear the rest of the message. His words had shocked her, she couldn't believe House had did that…'Yes I can,' she thought to herself after the thought ran through her mind. He had looked away from her when he saw her mouth drop open and her eyes rose up to meet his.

"Why did you turn my phone off?" she asked him.

"Hmmm," he said obviously reveling in the fact that she had asked that question. "It's funny you asked that question and not why did I tell your boy toy that you were lying next to me sleeping."

She broke eye contact with him for a little while, knowing he was right, but not willing to let him see this.

"Why did you tell him that?" she asked trying to get the conversation back on track.

"Because you were," he said matter-of-factly.

"Why didn't you tell me he called?"

"Forgot."

"Why are you screwing with him?" she asked as she leaned forward in her chair.

"I screw with all-," he said trying deny what she was about to imply.

"No," she said cutting him off, "not like this. You screwed with them nicely, so they wouldn't know they were being screwed with. But that was to screw with me. But you're screwing with him and he knows he's being screwed with."

He looked at the floor before looking back at her sitting across from him smirking.

"So you think we should screw?" he asked her, deflecting from the uncomfortable rationalization she had just made about his feelings about her relationship with someone else.

She rolled her eyes as the smile disappeared from her face. She closed the laptop and grabbed her cell phone and went into his room, obviously to talk to Brian in private. He picked up the second pop tart, getting ready to bite into it, only to have it taken from his hand before he had time to protest. He looked on with a shocked expression as Hayden bit into the pop tart while sitting down in the chair Cuddy had just vacated.

" 'Mornin'," she said opening the laptop. "Wow these are good," she said as she tasted the pop tart. I never had this flavor."

"Good morning," he said, before taking another sip of his coffee.  
Three people had come and taken over his apartment and he wasn't used to that. What really surprised him though was that, unlike when Wilson was living with him, he didn't mind it at all.

* * *

**Disclaimer: The song is Used To by Daughtry**


	23. Chapter 23

"You can't just run around here doing whatever you feel whenever you feel," she told him as they walked through the doors of the clinic.

"Why not? Either I do and they live, then I'm pretty sure they won't be that mad about it, or I don't and they die and they'll be indifferent about it," he said limping along side her.

She rolled her eyes at him before giving the papers to her assistant.

"Whoa," House said as they stepped into Cuddy's office. The girls were sitting in the office doing their homework after their first day at their new school.

"You should've seen the other uniforms," Madison told him.

They wore burgundy and blue knee length skirts. Madison had on a white button up blouse and Hayden had on a gray sweat shirt pulled over hers with burgundy writing.

"You have clinic duty starting now," she told him as she sat behind her desk.

"As punishment for saving a guy's life?" he asked her.

"No," she replied with a smile, "as a reward. You saved him, he's cured, and you don't have anything else to do as of now."

He just stared at her.

"Either that or you can go help change bed pans," she offered him.

He looked down at Hayden who was already looking up at him. She just shrugged her shoulders before turning back to the notebook on the table in front of her. He looked back to Cuddy one last time before leaving out of her office. Cuddy looked at the girls who were focused intently on their homework and decided this would be a better time than any to tell them the news. She had straightened things out with Brian and after doing so, he had proposed that they move in together. At first she thought it was just so he could make sure House kept his distance, but he convinced her that it wasn't. She was happy with the idea. This way she wouldn't have to worry about him coming and going and trying to make plans for him to stay over. It still wasn't the ideal situation, but it was a much more serious and stable relationship to present to her girls.

"I gotta tell you guys something," she said, nervously.

"Wassup?" Hayden said, still doing her math homework. Madison stopped reading the book and waited for her to continue.

"I don't want you to over exaggerate and understand the decision is made," she told them. This made Hayden stop doing her homework and look towards her, getting the feeling that she was not going to like what her mother had to say.

"Tell us already," Madison said after she didn't continue.

She took a deep breath and started to talk again. "Brian's moving in with us."

"What?!" they both yelled.

"Why?" Madison asked, obviously offended by the news. "What's wrong with his house?"

Cuddy just looked up at her as she stepped in front of her desk.

"His house is farther away from the hospital and your school, and I really like him so we decided that he would live with us," she told her.

"So what?" Madison continued. "I like puppies, I don't see you picking up strays off of the streets to bring home."

Cuddy leaned her head to the side, shocked a little by her youngest daughter's comment. "Madison," she told her, "watch your tone."

The girl just folded her arms and rolled her eyes, as Cuddy continued. "Like I said, the decision is already made and it's final. It'll be fine, if you just give him a chance, I'm sure both of you will learn to like him."

She looked at Madison and then to Hayden who was just glaring at her.

"Unbelievable," Hayden said before barging out of the office.

"Hayden," Cuddy called after her as she got up to follow her. By the time she got to the doors of her office Hayden was already leaving out of the clinic. She decided to let her go, and talk to her later instead of causing a scene in the hospital. She would be easier to talk to after she cooled down also. She also had to deal with the ruckus that was now coming out of exam room three.

"Ahhh," she heard the patient scream as House opened the door to exit. "Com'on man don't leave me like this. Ahhhh."

"What did you do?" she asked as she walked by him.

He just looked at her as if he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Oh God," she said as she looked into the room. She walked into the room and quickly removed the two medical tongs that were hanging from the man's pelvic region.

The man keeled over in pain and relief. "I'm sorry about that," she told him. "Would you excuse me, " she said exiting the room and closing the door behind her .

House was now going through another file.

"Why did you do that?" She asked as she glared up at him.

"I did it for him," he told her. She continued to look at him, not believing what he said. "A quick circumcision with no scalpels or blood or surgeons," he explained. "Besides if it got too painful, he would've taken them off himself...I think."

She rolled her eyes before asking. "And the second pair of tongs?"

"That," he started, "was for society. Trust me, he doesn't need to procreate. Now I gotta go, I have patients to see," he said holding up a file.

"Margret Richards," he said looking into the faces of the waiting patients. The woman looked at him nervously having heard the man yelling in the room he had just exited, and then to Cuddy . She reassured the woman that it was okay, that he actually was a board certified doctor and showed her where her office was in case he tried anything. She gave House another stern warning, knowing it probably wouldn't help anything, before returning to her office.

"What do you want for dinner?" she asked Madison as she sat down behind her desk.

She didn't answer. She just rolled her eyes and placed the earphones into her ear, turning the music up loud on her iPod.

"I forgot," she said aloud to no one but herself. "I'm public enemy number one." She shook her head and hoped that the girls would get over this soon, before returning to her paperwork.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Madison, do you know where your sister is?" Cuddy asked for the third time in the last five minutes, as she hung up her cell phone.

She was starting to get worried. It was close to seven and she hadn't heard from Hayden since she had left the office, earlier that day. She started to get worried after no one around the hospital had seen her and she wasn't answering her cell phone. She called her house thinking that she may have caught a cab home and even called Logan to go check just in case she wasn't answering the phone.

"Since I haven't left this room since the last time you asked," Madison started, "again, the answer is no." She turned back to her book seemingly unfazed by her mother's distressed state.

"Where could she be?" Cuddy said picking up the phone to dial her number again. She hung up after getting her voice mail again.

"I talked to Dr. Cameron," Nurse Julie said as she peeped into the room, "she hasn't seen her in the emergency room, but I'll keep looking."

"Okay, thanks," she said. She stood in the middle of her office not knowing what to do. She looked at Madison again who was intently ignoring her and reading her book, and decided not to ask her again. She looked back towards her office door and saw House coming towards her office. For a reason, unknown to her, she sighed a breath of relief, maybe he had seen her.

"House have you seen Hayden anywhere? " she asked as soon as he walked through the door. "I can't find her and she's not answering her phone."

"Well she's fifteen," he said sarcastically, "I'm pretty sure she can navigate her way around the hospital."

"I don't know, if she's in the hospital," she told him.

"Well why don't you ask Thelma?" he said motioning to Madison, making her look up at him. "I'm pretty sure she knows where Louise is."

"No, she doesn't" she told him. "She's been in here since Hayden left. Knowing Hayden, she may have left without telling me, just to spite me"

"Well try your house," he suggested, her unglued demeanor starting to rub off on him.

"I sent Logan to check," she told him, "no one's there. What if she left the hospital and something happened to her?"

"Don't worry," he told her as he turned to leave, "I'll find her."

He didn't have to think too hard before he knew exactly where she would be, or where he hoped she would be. He hadn't been to his office since Cuddy gave him clinic duty earlier that day, so he decided to go check there. The blinds were closed and all of the lights looked to be off. 'Just as I thought ,' he thought to himself as he pulled on the locked door that led into his office. He took his key from his pocket and unlocked the door. When he stepped into the conference room he could see the light from a small desk lamp coming from his office. He could also here a familiar tune being played. He stood and listened for a while as a smile spread across his face, but she stopped playing halfway through and started from the beginning. He stood there a little while before he made his presence known. She stopped playing when he walked through the door connecting his office with the conference room. She was sitting on the yellow chair with her feet on the matching ottoman. He sat down on the space left on the ottoman and stared at her.

"So what did you do?" he asked her in a playful tone.

The girl didn't answer, as she continued to stare at the guitar in her hands. He decided to continue.

"You're not passed out, and you're not in jail," he stated the obvious. "Did you run off and get a tattoo?"

She laughed a little. "No," she said still smiling, "I'm not old enough."

"Well where did you go? You don't get mad at your mother and run off to do nothing. Where's the anarchy in that."

"No anarchy," she told him, and paused before continuing. "I went to see the new psychologist. Things can get kinda confusing for a kid my age you know," she said as tears started to fall from her eyes. He wanted to reach out and hug her, but he knew that she would only pull away. She let her tears subside before she began again. "I talked to him, he agreed to see me after I told him my mother was his boss, so I just started talking." She paused again. "I think I'm really messed up because he looked shocked and confused," she said as they both laughed a little. "I don't think it's good to leave a head doctor speechless."

"You know you're mother's really worried about you," he informed her.

"I don't care," the girl said her mood turning sour again. "She didn't care when she invited Brian to come and live with us."

This made House's heart sink, to hear that another man was going to be living with his family. 'What is she thinking?' he thought to himself. Did she love this guy? She had to, to move him into her home with the girls living there. Why didn't he see this coming? She was trying to make him a part of their family. He pushed aside his own feelings of discontentment and decided that his daughter's was more important at the time. He looked back over to her as she was again looking down at the guitar.

"Can I see that?" he asked reaching his hand out for the guitar.

She handed it to him and he started to play…the same song he had heard her playing. She listened to him until he got to the part where she usually stopped.

"Wait, how do you know that song?" she asked him with a curious smile on her face.

"How do you know it?" he replied.

"I don't know, it just kinda stuck in my head from somewhere. No one else seems to know it and I don't know the second half, I know there's more," she continued, " but I can't remember it."

He smiled at her before starting to play the second half of the song.

"That's it," she perked up as she suddenly recognized the sounds coming from the guitar as the second half of her incomplete song. He smiled at her as he continued to play.

"How did you know the rest of the song?" she questioned him with a huge smile on her face, happy to get closure to the song that was constantly replaying in her head.

"I wrote it," he told her as she looked at him confused. "For you."

"For me? Why?" she asked.

He sighed before starting. "Because, after you're sister was born you were kind of jealous. You used to throw things at her when your Mom held her, you even tried to cover her mouth when she cried," he said making Hayden laugh. "So I wrote this song and gave it to you, I only played it for you. You used to love the guitar and that was the only way I could calm you when you would go into a crying fit and you're mother wasn't around. I started teaching you how to play it before…" his voice trailed off.

Hayden noticed this, but she continued staring at him amused by the story.

"So does Madison have a song?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "She was younger, so I wrote her a lullaby."

"That's why mom gets quiet every time I play this song," she said to no one in particular.

"Speaking of your mother," he started, "don't you think it's time we tell her where you are before she has a heart attack. Though it is fun to see her like this."

They both stood, but before either of them could leave they heard the door swing open.

"House did you-," she stopped mid sentence when she saw Hayden.

"Hayden where were you?" she asked as she pulled her into a tight hug. "I was worried sick."

"I was in here... Mom I can't breathe," she said making Cuddy release her from the hug.

She smiled at her before turning to House and hitting him on the arm. "Why didn't you call me and tell me you found her?"

"I was going to make a hostage negotiation," he told her. "Do I get time off from the clinic for finding her," trying to hide the fact that he too was starting to get nervous.

"No," she said without hesitation. She turned back to Hayden. "And if you don't answer your cell phone again when I call, you're grounded and I'm taking the phone."

"Gee mom, I can tell you're glad I'm okay," Hayden replied sarcastically before walking out of the office.

"Don't for get you have clinic in the morning," she told House as she turned to leave .

"So when's the moving in party?" he asked ignoring her last statement.

She looked at him suspiciously as she took a couple of steps back towards him. "Excuse me?"

"Brian," he returned, "when's he moving in?"

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"Why would you even let him move in?" he asked ignoring her answer.

She smiled and came a few steps closer to him so he could feel the heat coming from her body. She smiled and looked up at him. She knew that her dating Brian bothered House for whatever reason and she wanted to rub it in.

"Does Brian moving in with me bother you, House?" she asked him.

He just looked down at her smiling up at him, and for some reason he had the urge to kiss her. But he fought it off, and stood his ground.

"I'm just saying," he started, " it's clear that you are more interested in someone else, since the clothes you wear to work are more revealing than the clothes you wear on your dates with him."

"All our dates aren't public," she told him. "You wouldn't say that if you saw the ones that were confined to his bedroom."

She stared at him a little while longer, taking in his reaction to the words she had just spoken. She turned and left, satisfied with the half angry half melancholy expression on his face.

Her smile became even wider as she walked down the hall, confused as to why what she had just did felt so good. Her stomach fluttered as she remembered the jealous look he had in his eyes when she left. She sobered from the feel of victory when she realized what was happening. 'Don't play this game, Lisa,' she told herself, 'It's too dangerous, especially when you're playing it with him.'

Meanwhile in his office, House was trying to figure out why what she had just said upset him so much. One thing he knew for sure, he didn't want Brian to move in with them, but their was nothing he could do or say. Well there was one thing, but he wasn't willing to confess this to himself, let alone her. If Brian wanted to stay, he was going to have to get used to House being a frequent part of the girls' lives and Cuddy's. He grabbed his things and locked the door to his office. 'She doesn't love him,' he thought to himself as a smile appeared on his face, 'not as much as she loves me anyway.'


	24. Chapter 24

"What's wrong?" Cuddy asked looking up from her book.

She had spotted Hayden through the crack in her bedroom door. The girl pushed the door all the way open as she stood in the same spot with a sad expression on her face, not saying anything. This alarmed Cuddy, it wasn't like one of her kids to have trouble finding words to express themselves, unless they were in trouble or something was wrong.

"Hayden what's wrong? What happened?" she asked leaning up from the pillows that were against the headboard of her bed.

"Nothing," the girl said quickly. "Nothing's wrong."

"Well what is it?"

"I just," she started nervously, "I just wanted to apologize…about earlier, not answering my phone and everything."

Cuddy just stared at her shocked by the apology, especially since it was coming from Hayden.

"I accept your apology," she started , "but can I ask what inspired it?"

"Do I have to have a reason to be nice?"

"You don't have to have a reason. I think you are a very sweet and compassionate person, but you usually need a reason to show that side of yourself," she told her. "So you usually do need a reason to be nice, but if you just felt like being nice, that's good enough for me."

She smiled at Hayden as the girl still stood in the same spot, now with a look of apprehension on her face. She stood there a few more moments without saying anything as Cuddy went back to her book. She knew that Hayden was still standing there and that there was something else she wanted to say, but she would wait for her to continue. Hayden looked down at the floor and sighed, before she began talking again.

"I remember," she started again as she took a few steps into the room, making Cuddy look back up at her, "when he left... I remember how sad you were." Hayden sat down on the bed. "And I see how happy Brian makes you…and I want you to be happy."

Cuddy just looked at the girl with mixed feelings. Sad because she had unsuccessfully tried to hide her feelings in front of them when House first left, shocked because she couldn't believe those words were coming from Hayden, and happy because those words were coming from Hayden. That was basically her way of telling her that she was going to try to accept her and Brian's relationship.

"Come here," she said as she pulled Hayden into a hug. "Thank you."

"And if dating a loser makes you happy, then I guess I can live with that," the girl added.

"Of course," Cuddy said jokingly, "Expecting an apology without an insult, what was I thinking." She held on to her a little while longer.

"Slumber party," Madison shouted, as she walked into the room and jumped onto the bed, lying on Cuddy's other shoulder.

She wrapped her arm around her youngest daughter and kissed her on the head.

"I love you two so much," she told them.

"I love you too," Madison started, "but I'm not helping Brian move in tomorrow."

Cuddy smiled knowing the news she was about to deliver would make the girls happy.

"Brian's not moving in," she told them.

"What?" Madison asked her.

"Aww that's too bad, I was really looking forward to having him around," Hayden said trying to sound sympathetic and making Cuddy laugh in the process.

"You were not."

"Not that I need a good reason, or any reason," Madison started. "But why did he change his mind?"

"He didn't," she told them. "I changed my mind."

"Why?" Hayden asked her.

"I didn't want to make you uncomfortable in your own home. You guys come first, and Brian understands that," she told them.

* * *

"They're still adjusting to our relationship," Cuddy told Brian as they unloaded the groceries from her car, after he asked about him moving in again.

"Still adjusting? It's been over a year since we started dating. They are doing this because you are letting them. I understood in the beginning because their father wasn't in their lives," he said, bringing a hurt expression to Cuddy's face, "but they're not even trying."

She just looked at him with the same hurt expression on her face.

"Lisa I'm sorry," he said realizing the impact his words had on her. "I don't know…I shouldn't have said that. They're your kids you know them better than I do. I guess I just want them to accept us, to accept me."

She looked up at him about to answer, but the sound and sight of a motorcycle coming down the street prevented her from replying.

"Oh no," she mumbled when she realized who it was.

He parked the bike at the end of the driveway. Took his helmet off, grabbed his cane and started walking towards them.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Brian asked her.

"I don't know. Just try not to get upset," she whispered to Brian.

"Hello," House said as he walked over to them  
Brian nodded his head and Cuddy put her hands on her hip as she stepped between them.

"The girls aren't here," she told him.

"That's okay, he said. I'll wait for them," he said before turning to Brian. "How's it going Michael?" He knew he would be here.

"The names Brian," he replied, as House just stared at him nonchalantly. Cuddy put her hand on Brian's chest as he took a step towards House.

"Lets just finish bringing these bags inside, then I'll make dinner," she told him with pleading eyes.

"Goodie," House said, "I had a light lunch. I'm famished."

Cuddy rolled her eyes at him.

"Care to help?" Brian asked him, trying to be nice to please Cuddy.

House just smiled sarcastically. "Sorry, I don't live here."

"Really? I can't tell," Brian mumbled as he walked back towards the front door.

"This guy is over here a lot," House told her. "You haven't even been dating him a year."

"Yes I have," she said folding her arms as a smile came to her face.  
This brought a look of confusion to his face.

"Wilson said-," he tried to explain, but she cut him off.

"Wilson found out about us dating eight months ago," she told him. "He thought we had just started dating, so I let him believe that because I knew, sooner or later he would tell you."

He just stood there looking at the ground with a defeated look on his face. She really went the extra length to make sure he couldn't mess up this relationship. Her smile disappeared when she saw the look on his face.

"What do want House? Why are you trying to mess this up for me?" she asked with a questioning look on her face. "I'm happy. Can you just let me have that?"

He just stared at her for a few moments, and she could have sworn she saw a twinge or regret in his eyes. He nodded and turned to walk away. She watched him as he slowly limped down the drive way and got on his bike and left.

"Did he leave?" Brian asked as he came back to the door.

She quickly turned her back to him to hide the tears that had started to well in her eyes.

"Yeah," she told him. "I got rid of him."

"Good," he said kissing her on the cheek. Without giving her a second look, he grabbed a few more bags and proceeded to walk back into the house with them.

She was glad Brian didn't see the tears, because she didn't want to have to lie to him. She definitely couldn't tell him the truth; that she was crying because she was confused by her feelings for House. She asked him not to mess up her relationship with Brian, but it was her who was on the verge of messing it up. She calmed herself before she grabbed the last few bags and went back into the house. She loved Brian and she knew that he loved her. She also knew that he was willing to extend that love to her girls. She was happy and she was determined not to mess up their relationship.

* * *

House had now arrived back at his apartment, feeling more despondent than usual. He popped two vicodins, before he grabbed a bottle of tequila, ready to drown his sorrows in it. He quickly downed one glass before pouring himself another. He sat down at the piano and began to play whatever came to his mind, whatever fit his mood. Not feeling the effect of the vicodin soon enough, he reached for the bottle again. He was about to open it, but realized the pain was no longer coming from his leg. He slowly looked around his empty apartment…no Madison, no Hayden…no Lisa. He cursed himself, as he realized what he had just admitted to himself. He downed the rest of the tequila and gave himself a refill. 'She's happy,' he told himself. 'Happy like you couldn't make her happy, at least without messing it up.' He continued playing the piano. He had to let it go, he wasn't going to mess this up for her, he couldn't hurt her again.  
He downed a few more glasses of tequila and decided to abandon his piano for his guitar. He walked over and plugged it in. His hand started to play a familiar tune as the words to the song and hurtful memories that the alcohol could not wash away ran through his mind.

_In the glare of a neon sign, she laid her body down  
The damned walked in beside her, and he laid his money down  
He said don't try to scream now, but I want this one to hurt  
And tonight my pretty one, I'm gonna get my money's worth  
He said they'd never listen, she said they'd never understand  
That I don't do this for pleasure, I just do it cause I can  
I swear I didn't want to, and I swear I didn't know  
That things like this could happen to a seventeen year old_

_***************************************_

_He sat in the chair in the master bedroom of their new home watching them as they slept, the three most important people in the world to him, his two little girls, and their mother, his beautiful bride to be. He ran his hands through his hair as he again contemplated about what he was about to do, what he had to do. It had been two and a half years since he had first left to take the job out of state. He had gotten fired months ago for unethical behavior, and had moved back after getting a job at a hospital near the one where his fiancé worked. He had already found another job out of town and had already put in his two weeks notice, which as of that day, had come to an end. He didn't tell her though. Why hurt her sooner than he needed to? It would also only make it harder for him to leave and he had to leave, for their sake._

_He had had time to reflect on himself and on his past and his future, which mainly consisted of them. He thought about his father and how cruel and cold hearted he had been, how much of an unfit father he was. He remembered the way his father would cause pain to anyone that he felt was beneath him, the total disregard he had for other people's feelings, including his own family's. The evil things that he had witnessed his father do, when he was still just a little boy. The things he kept to himself and vowed to tell no one. And though he loved and would never due anything to hurt them, he had started to see pieces of his father surface within him. He too was labeled as the asshole that cared about no one but himself. Everyone hated him, as they had his father. All the pain and suffering he had as a child was due to his father. He didn't have a happy childhood and he always felt a void as an adult, that is until he met her. He wanted better for his children. He had also wanted better for her, but knew they wouldn't get it as long as he stuck around. He had seen the hurt that his mother had suffered due to his father, and he refused to put her through that. She had tried to reassure him many times that he wasn't like his father, and that he would be a great father, and she couldn't wish for a better husband. But his time away gave him time to think. He wouldn't risk turning into his father, and risk hurting them the way his father had did him and his mother. He would do anything to protect them, and that included removing any trace of his father or anything that resembled what he stood for from their lives, including himself. After all, he was his father's son._

_****And I've bundled up all these fears inside, and I've bottled up all of this pain  
And no one or nothing can take this away, but I won't let it happen again  
Never again****_

_He snapped out of his trance after he heard noises coming from the bed. He looked up to see his fiancé, whom he was supposed to be marrying at the end of the year, starting to wake from her slumber. She took her arm from around the youngest of the girls and turned over to look at him. She smiled upon seeing his face._

_"Hey," she said as she scooted closer to the end of the bed, sure not to wake the two little girls who were still sound asleep._

_"Hey," he said, as he forced a half smile. It was hard to smile at someone you loved when you knew you were about to break their heart._

_She sat in his lap and he wrapped his arm around her. They both just sat there for a while, watching their kids sleep._

_"They're going to be up all night," she commented as she noticed the time. "I can't believe it's after five and they're still napping."_

_"Leave them sleep," he said, not wanting them to be awake when he told her._

_"Hungry?" she asked not giving him a chance to answer. "I'm gonna go make dinner."_

_****In the haze of a smoky room, he chokes that bottle down  
It's been a month since he saw her face, underneath the blood stained gown  
And he thinks about that little girl, and the one he has at home, and wonders  
'What if that was my little girl, walking down that road alone?****_

_With that she got up and left out of the room. He sat and watched them sleep a little while longer before getting up and walking over to the bed, to say his goodbyes. He went to the youngest first and a few tears managed to escape his eyes. He stroked her hair as he started to speak._

_"I'm gonna miss you blue eyes and I'm so sorry. Don't change… stay my sweet little baby girl," he managed to choke out. "Daddy loves you so much." He kissed her forehead and proceeded to go to the other side of the bed where his oldest lied._

_"I'm going to miss you too," he said stroking her hair. "I know if you were awake, you'd yell at me until you made me listen to you and stay, but I have to go baby, and I'm so sorry," he kissed her forehead, "I love you."_

_He walked to the door and wiped away all the tears that were starting to fall. He had to remain strong when he told her, he had to make her hate him, but in bottom of his heart he knew that was impossible. He regained his composure and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him, hoping this would protect them from the battle that was about to ensue. He leaned on the door frame to the entrance of the kitchen and watched her quietly as she began to prepare dinner for four. To him, she was perfect and any man would be lucky to have her. It wouldn't be hard for her to find someone else once he left. No man could give her all that he felt she deserved, but he felt there were many who could come closer than he could._

_****And I've bundled up all these fears inside, and I've bottled up all of this pain  
And no one or nothing can take this away, but I won't let it happen again  
Never again, never again, no****_

_"The food will be ready in about an hour," she told him as she noticed him standing in the door way. "There's some fruit in the fridge if you're hungry now," she said smiling at him affectionately._

_He sighed heavily before opening his mouth to speak the words that he knew would spark the beginning of her heartbreak._

_"Don't set a place for me," he began. "I won't be here."_

_"I didn't know you were on call this weekend," she said not getting what he was trying to say._

_He looked down at the floor as he began to speak again._

_"I'm not," he told her. The tone in his voice made her turn away from the food on the counter and look at him._

_"Then where are you going?" she asked him starting to get a little worried. She knew him and she knew something wasn't right._

_He stared at her trying to build up the strength to tell her. "I'm leaving," he told her as her facial expression changed from one of worry to one of confusion. "And this time…I'm not coming back."_

_She blinked her eyes a few times and looked to the floor trying to process his words before looking back to him. "Wait... what do you mean you're not coming back?"_

_"I got another job, I'm leaving town."_

_"Well what about us?" she said as she started to walk towards him. "We just bought this house."_

_"I'm leaving," he started again, as if he were still trying to convince himself of it, "and you guys are staying here."_

_"So your leaving us?" she questioned as she stopped right in front of him. "You're leaving your kids?...You're leaving me?"_

_He just nodded as he looked down at the floor. He couldn't handle seeing the pain that was in her eyes._

_"Is it another woman?" she questioned._

_"No," he quickly reassured her as he looked back into her eyes. "Lisa, you and those two girls are the most important people in the world to me. I could never love another woman as much as I love you. I would never do that do you, I love you too much."_

_She stared at him a little while and he could see the hurt in her eyes be replaced by anger. Before he could do anything, she raised her right hand and slapped him across the face._

_"You bastard," she said through gritted teeth. "You're standing here telling me you're leaving me, and you expect me to believe that you love me."_

_"I'm leaving you because I love you," he said as he rubbed the spot on his face that she had just slapped._

_"Yeah? How does that work?" she questioned sarcastically, obviously trying not to wake the girls by yelling._

_"You deserve better than what I have to offer," he told her. "The girls deserve better. "_

_"They deserve to have their father in their lives," she spat back._

_"Things will get better once I'm gone," he said, as he began to walk towards the door._

_She followed close behind him, stopping him in the foyer._

_"How could you think that?" she asked him as the tears began to fall. "Greg, I love you…those girls love you, we don't want you to leave."_

_He walked over to her and put his hands on her face before pulling her into a kiss. They broke apart, leaving only a couple of inches between their faces as he caressed her face with his thumbs._

_"Lisa, you know I love the girls, you know I love you. And I would do anything for you."_

_"Then stay," she made one last plea to him through the tears that were flowing freely down her face._

_He stared into her eyes regretting the final blow he was about to deal to her heart before it came out of his mouth._

_"I can't," was his only reply._

_He kissed her one last time before walking out of the front door, leaving her standing alone in what had once been their home._

_*************************************************_

He opened his eyes as he played the last part of the song and the words echoed in his mind.

_**Maybe I'm just crazy or the devil got inside,  
But either way my soul is gone, and I'll end this all tonight  
The one hand throws the whiskey, and the other throws the gun  
As he cries out to the heavens, I am not my father's son!  
And I've bundled up all these fears inside, and I've bottled up all of this pain  
And no one or nothing can take this away, but I won't let it happen again  
Never again**_

* * *

**A/N: Hope you liked. **

**Disclaimer: song is Father's Son by 3 Doors Down**


	25. Chapter 25

"Goodnight," she said after kissing Brian goodbye.

She closed the door behind him and locked it, before she turned around, intending to go back into the living room. However, she ended up walking towards the telephone that sat on the table in the hallway. She stared at the phone intently deciding if she should pick it up, trying to rationalize what she was about to do before she did it. It was only 9 p.m so she knew he wasn't sleeping. It was also Saturday so she knew she neither the girls were about to go to sleep. She sighed and picked the phone up from the cradle and started to dial his number. She held her breath as she waited for him to answer.

"Let me guess," she heard him say through the phone, "you're little boy toy couldn't fulfill your needs so you decided to call me."

She rolled her eyes and let a smile come to her face, only because she knew he couldn't see it.

"Hardly," she told him. "I'm calling you because the girls are here and Brian is gone, so if you wanted to stop by and see them you could."

"Wow that's a complete one-eighty in the last few hours. Is that the rule now, do I only get to see them when you're boyfriend's not around?" he asked her.

"No," she sighed into the phone. She felt bad, that he thought that was what she was trying to do. She knew that he was really trying to become a part of their lives and she knew they wanted the same thing. She would never stand in the way of that, especially since he had given her no reason to. "That's not what...," she fumbled over her words, as she tried to explain. "I just thought you wanted to see them," she said quietly.

The other end of the phone became quiet then she heard him moving around.

"I'm on my way over," he said.

She hung up the phone and stood there for a moment contemplating what she had just done. She sighed and decided to go take a shower, that usually relaxed her, and for some reason, she needed that now.  
0000000000000

She turned the shower off and stepped out into the steamy bathroom, and wrapped the towel around her. She was a little more relaxed, but not as relaxed as she would have liked to have been. She opened the door and saw a man in a black leather jacket standing in front of her dresser, and from what she could tell, he was going through her things.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" she asked him.

"Nice," he said holding up a pair of black laced thongs, with his back still turned towards her.

"Get out of my room," she commanded him as she walked over and snatched the garment from his hand.

This made him turn around to look at her. He was about to reply to her, but forgot to answer when he saw her standing there wrapped in only a towel, with her wet curls sticking to her neck and face. He just stared her up and down.

"House," she yelled drawing his eyes back to her face.

It was then that he saw how mad she was.

"The door was unlocked," he lied.

She knew he was lying because she knew she had locked the door. She also knew that he didn't ring the doorbell because one of the girls would have come down to answer it. Her guess was that he had found the spare key she kept under the flower pot next to the front door. His attention again slipped from her face and what she was saying, to her lack of clothing and how much he was turned on from the way she appeared in front of him. He had no idea he was getting fussed at.

He shifted the cane in his hand as a smirk came to his face. She was so busy yelling at him, she didn't notice that he had slipped the cane through the small opening in the bottom of the towel in an attempt to make the towel fall to the floor. She did notice though once she felt the towel about to fall from her body. She quickly grabbed the towel and held it around herself. She looked at him in disbelief after she realized what he had just tried to do.

"Oh com'on," he said, "it's not like I haven't seen what's under there before."

"Get out," she said motioning towards the door.

He looked her over once more before reluctantly turning and leaving the room. She blow dried her hair and put on a navy blue t-shirt dress and went out into the living room, where she heard House and the girls talking.

"Who's crazy?" she asked as she walked into the living room, knowing they were already talking about her.

"Hey, I didn't see you standing there," House said as the girls started laughing.

She rolled her eyes at him and sat down on the sofa. The television was off and the music from the stereo softly filled the room.

"Guess what?" Madison told her, and immediately continued talking. "Daddy said he was going to buy us a puppy."

"You can't buy them a puppy," Cuddy said as she turned to House.

"Why not?" he asked her.

"They're not responsible enough," she told him.

"Yes we are," Madison replied, pleading her case. "I promise I'll take care of it, and Hayden will help too, won't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the girl replied nonchalantly.

"You don't even like dogs," she said turning back to House.

"That's why I'm buying one for them, not me," House replied.  
Cuddy looked back at Madison's pleading face.

"Com'on Lisa, you have a huge backyard...no pun intended," he said making her shoot him a mean glare, "and a garage."

"Pleeaasee," Madison sang as she brought her two hands together as if she was going to say a prayer.

"Okay," Cuddy gave after a long hard stare at Madison. "But he's all your guys' responsibility. The minute I have to clean up after, feed, or bathe him, or anything, he's out of here."

"You won't have to do anything Mom, I promise," the girl said with a huge grin on her face.

"You clean up after and feed Brian," Hayden said, making Madison giggle and bringing a smile to House's face. "Oh, I forgot," she said earnestly, after seeing the look Cuddy was giving her, "I'm supposed to be working on that. Sorry."

Her cell phone started ringing and Hayden nearly fell out of her chair trying to get to it.

"Hello," she said smiling from ear to ear, seeming to forget everybody else was in the room.

"Why are you grinning so much?" Madison asked her loudly. "Is that Blake?"

Hayden rolled her eyes and left the room to talk on the phone in private.

"Who's Blake?" House asked.

"Her boyfriend. I'll be back," Madison said obviously getting up to go and annoy Hayden.

House watched the door where his two daughters had just exited, with a concerned and agitated look on his face . For some reason he was upset. He didn't like Hayden's reaction to the boy on the phone, he didn't like her having a boyfriend. As he was mentally putting Blake on his dislike list he heard laughing coming from the only other person left in the room with him.

"What?" he asked after turning around and seeing how amused she was.

She got her laughter under control, but a huge smile still remained on her face. "I never thought I'd see you like this."

"I know it's hard to believe the guy you have the hots for is sitting on your couch, but-," he started, but she cut him off.

"Shut up," she said smiling at him affectionately. "After all these years, Madison can still get you to do just about anything she asks, Hayden is still able to drive you nuts without even trying, and they both have you wrapped around their little fingers."

He opened his mouth to deny it, but instead a smile came to his face. She was right, but they were his little girls, and no matter what he did, in his heart that never changed.

"Do yourself a favor and learn to tell them no," she told him as she got up from the sofa. "They're not little anymore they're teenagers and hearing no a lot keeps them out of trouble...for the most part," she added as she left out of the room.

He let her words run through his mind again. She was giving him her approval for him to come back into the girls' lives. He grabbed the remote for the stereo and turned it off then turned on the television. He put his feet up on the coffee table and got more comfortable on the sofa, as Cuddy walked back into the room with her laptop and resumed her spot on the sofa.

"You know you work too much. It's Saturday, relax," he told her.

"I just have to email something to one of the lawyers at the hospital," she told him as a sarcastic smile came to her face. "It's about a lawsuit against one of the doctors. Care to guess which one?"

He just stretched his eyes and stared at her with a guilty look before turning back to the television. It was hard for him to believe that he had gone from being so low and depressed to almost being on top of the world, the only thing keeping him from being on top of the world being that his setting was only temporary. He looked over at her, as she stared intently at the computer screen, knowing their family would never be complete again, he was in the process of winning back his girls, but he had lost her forever, to what he felt was an intruder. But he knew he had only himself to blame. He kept telling himself that she was happy and that he had a reputation to uphold. He couldn't justify expressing himself to her and becoming the person she needed him to be, the person he once was. It would make it even harder being that they worked together, he liked his coworkers having the current image of him in their heads. It made it easier for him to mess with them, and harder for them to mess with him. So again he stepped away from the edge and withheld himself from becoming completely happy, and unknowingly, making her completely happy.

"Get away, Madison," Hayden whined loudly from upstairs. "Mom make Madison leave me alone," she yelled.

"Madison, leave your sister alone," she yelled back.

The only response was a scream from Madison.

"Don't make me come up there you two," she warned, as she closed the laptop and sat it on the table.

None of the girls said anything so they took it that the fighting had stopped. He laughed silently at the domestic setting he had managed to get himself into. Madison joined them on the sofa and the three of them watched television and talked for the rest of the night, while Hayden stayed upstairs talking on the telephone. This would become a frequent routine for him for the next few months being that Brian was out of town a lot on business. He would sometimes come over when Brian was there, but didn't really like to because he didn't like seeing another man with his hands all over Cuddy. The girls would occasionally show up at his place without warning though. This made him have to change his lifestyle a little and stop a lot of his late night rendezvous with his usual hookers. This routine was also making it harder for him to deny his feelings for Cuddy.

* * *

"There's a surprise for you in your office," Cuddy's assistant Julia told her as she passed by the front desk. "I think you'll like it."

Cuddy smiled and walked into her office to find two dozen red roses sitting in a clear vase on her desk, her smile grew even wider. She searched through the flowers and pulled out a small white card and read it.

'I love you and can't wait until I see you tonight.  
Happy Valentines Day.  
-Brian'

The thought of their plans for that night brought another smile to her face. She placed the flowers to the side and sat down at her desk with a new found enthusiasm for completing her work for the day. A few minutes later she heard a knock on her door and looked up to see Wilson. She motioned for him to come in.

"Nice flowers," he said handing her the papers he had come to get her to sign.

"Thanks," she said looking at the flowers, "Brian sent them."

"So what are you two doing tonight?"

"Nothing, much," she said. "Just having dinner at this little Italian restaurant, and spending a nice quiet evening at home."

"Quiet evening at home?" he said. "I'm guessing Hayden and Madison won't be there."

"Nope," she said. "They're spending the night at a friend's. What about you? You have any plans for tonight?"

"Yeah," he replied, "I have a date with Gillian from cardiology."

"The blonde?" she questioned.

He nodded his head and she finished reading over the papers and just as she was about to touch the pen to the paper to sign them she heard another knock at her door. She looked up to see Julia holding another bouquet of flowers. As she walked in she could see it was an assortment of peach and butter colored calla lilies. She put her hands up to her mouth in shock as Wilson stood their confused.

"Oh my god," she said getting up to inspect the flowers. "They're beautiful."

"Looks like someone's trying to earn some extra points for Valentine's," Julia said seeing her boss's reaction to the second vase of flowers.

Wilson waited until she had left the room before he pulled the card from the flowers and handed it to Cuddy. He would've opened it himself, but that would have been rude. She obviously thought Brian had sent them, but he thought differently, and he wanted to know if his suspicions were right. She took the card from his hand and opened it. It simply read, _'-Not from Brian'_. A knowing smirk came to her face as she handed the card to Wilson. Unless she had a prominent stalker who she didn't know about, they both knew that only one person would know her favorite flowers and send them to her with that card. She was confused. Why would he send her flowers on Valentine's Day or any day for that matter? She had noticed that they were becoming closer and getting a lot more comfortable around and open towards each other on a more personal basis, but she never expected him to send her flowers. Maybe he was just trying to belittle Brian's gift. Either way, he had just made her day that much better.

* * *

"Why did you send her the flowers?" Wilson asked, walking into House's office.

"I don't know. Why did I?" House said as if Wilson had just said an opening line to a joke.

"You knew he would send her the normal red roses, "Wilson started, deciding to play along, "so you decided to send her her favorite flowers so you could show him up."

House looked at him as if he was confused. "Who are we talking about again?"

"Don't play dumb," Wilson told him. House just looked at him with a dumb expression. "Cuddy," Wilson said finally giving in to him.

"I'm sorry," House said still acting confused, "but why would I send Cuddy flowers?"

"So you could prove to Brian and her that he would never know her as well as you do," Wilson told him.

"That's absurd," he said. "She's happy, remember."

"Yes," Wilson admitted. "I said that, but that was before I knew you were falling in love with her again."

"I'm not falling in love with her again," House argued. "It's you who's falling in love with the idea of me falling in love with her. Which is really sad by the way."

Wilson just sighed and looked at House for a moment before speaking. "So you're letting her be happy?"

House just stared at him with a blank look, trying not to show any emotions.

"Well maybe we should try to hook her up with the guy who sent the mysterious flowers," Wilson said as he got up to leave. "It seems like she would be happiest with him."

Wilson exited leaving House alone to think about what he had just said. Would she be happier with him? She had been happy with him once before, but that was a long time ago. Could he make her happy again? The nerves of Wilson thinking that he was falling in love with her again. To fall in love with someone again indicates that you have to stop loving them at some point. He smiled to himself as he thought about the flowers. 'She must have liked them,' he thought to himself, he knew she would. He was also happy that he showed Brian up. Maybe she wasn't happy with him, well maybe not as happy as he first thought anyway. He didn't even know what her favorite flower was. Maybe it wouldn't be long before she dropped the guy.


	26. Chapter 26

She had just gotten out of her only meeting for that day. It was a good day for her. She had only had one meeting that morning and she was still floating from her date with Brian the night before. It was nice to have him stay over at her place again, since he only got to when the girls weren't there. A smile came to her face when she walked into her office and saw the calla lilies that now decorated the table in her office. She had gone up to thank House for the nice gesture, but as suspected, he denied sending them. She let him know that she knew it was him who sent them, and thanked him anyway. Brian had seen the flowers and asked about them, but she told him that a donor had sent them to her as a nice gesture. She sat down at her desk and Julie walked in with a bunch of messages to her. Most of them were just updates on meetings and situations, but none of them were urgent. The note from the headmaster at the girls' school, however, caught her attention. She sighed heavily as she picked up the phone and dialed the number to the school. After five minutes on the phone with the man, she was instructed that she needed to come down and pick up Madison. Apparently she had gotten suspended from school. She got her bag and her keys, and told Julie to hold her calls until she got back.

When she got to the school the secretary in the front office directed her to the head master's office. Her mouth fell open when she saw Madison.

"Madison what the --," she caught herself in front of the man, "what happened?"

The girl was soaked from head to toe. Madison just looked at her with a trying smile, knowing she was in trouble.

"Well apparently," the man said taking it upon himself to answer her question, "she and some of her classmates decided to have a water balloon fight."

Cuddy glared at her as she took a seat next to the girl. Madison just looked down at the floor avoiding eye contact with her.

"We have suspended her and the other students for Monday," the man told her. "This will go down as her first demerit, and I remind you that five demerits equals to one strike. Three strikes mean you are expelled from the school."

"I know," Cuddy told him, "and believe me it won't happen again. I'm sorry. She'll be on her best behavior from now own, won't you Madison?"

"Yes ma'am," the girl said quietly.

"Don't you have something to tell Mr. Winchester?" she asked her.

"I'm sorry Mr. Winchester," Madison said.

They both got up and left the office Cuddy glaring at her the whole way and Madison not saying anything. Once the got in the car, they headed home so Madison could change her clothes and then they went back to the hospital, with Cuddy fussing the whole way home and half the way to the hospital. Madison was sitting quietly doing a project for school trying to stay out of Cuddy's way. She had just hung up with one benefactor and was about to pick up the phone to call another when House walked into her office. He stopped and checked his watch when he saw Madison in the office. She was sitting on the floor with a poster board and a whole bunch of other papers and pictures around her.

"Why are you here?" he asked her. "It's only one thirty."

The girl looked at Cuddy as if waiting for permission to speak.

"Go ahead tell him," Cuddy told her. The girl was about to open her mouth to speak, but Cuddy beat her to it. "She decided that she wanted to throw water balloons at school with her friends."

The girl just looked at him before turning back to her project.

"Have fun?" he said as if that was okay.

She looked over at Cuddy who was eagerly waiting for her to answer the question so she could start fussing again.

"No," she lied.

"Try freezing some shaving cream and thawing it out in the school cafeteria next time. It'll be-," he started before Cuddy cut him off.

"House, don't encourage her," she warned him in a stern tone.

"I'll tell you about it later," he unsuccessfully whispered to her.

"Is there a reason you came to my office?" She asked him as she got up from behind her desk.

"Yeah," he said as he turned around to look back into the front part of her office, "but he seems to like her more than me. Or maybe he saw you and remembered what you tried to do to his good friend Toto."

He opened the door and Cuddy saw Julie bend over and put something on the floor. A few seconds later a six week old black, labradoodle puppy with a slightly curled coat scampered into the office. Madison gasped making the puppy automatically run to her. She picked the puppy up as it tried to lick her face.

"Great timing," Cuddy told him, "she gets put out of school and she gets a puppy as a punishment."

"You know me," he told her. He was about to finish his thought, but Madison cut off their conversation.

"Oh no," she said holding the puppy away from her as it peed on the poster board she had on the floor. "I think I need another board," she said looking up at Cuddy, who in turn looked at House.

"All the house broken ones were taken," he told her with a smile.  
She rolled her eyes at him. Leave it to House to pick a puppy that would be leaving its little presents all over her house.

She told Madison to go get some of the news papers from the stands in front of the hospital and to throw the poster board away, and the girl did as told. Cuddy picked up the puppy and put it in the private bathroom in her office, before it had another accident, on her carpet this time.

"Why didn't you keep it at your apartment until it was trained?" she asked him.

"And let him pee all over my place," he said turning to leave, "yeah right."

She sighed, thankfully she was up to date on everything and decided to leave work early. She had to go and pick up Hayden and Logan from school at two thirty since his grandma's care was in the shop, pick up Isabella from day care at three, get a new poster board for Madison, and pick up some food and other things for the puppy, including some puppy paper, and more importantly get the puppy out of the hospital before it did its business on every square foot of her carpet. It was the weekend so she wasn't expecting anything big to happen concerning any of the donors or the board members, and she could always come back to the hospital in case there was an emergency.

* * *

"I'm coming," House yelled as he walked closer to the door where the loud knocking was coming from.

He had just solved his case and had just gotten out the shower, now he was ready for some much needed sleep, but someone wasn't about to allow that. He looked through the peep hole and saw the familiar faces of two teenagers standing there. He opened the door and looked from the boy to the girl. They both had smiles plastered on their faces, he knew something was up.

"Hey," the girl spoke up, with the smile still glued on, while the boy just waved.

"What did you do?" he asked looking at them suspiciously.

"Nothing," Hayden said. "I just wanted to stop by to see you. We were on our way back from a party?"

"With who?" he asked, still trying to figure out what was going on.

"Me, I got my license today," the boy said proudly.

"Do you have a t-shirt I can borrow while I wash this one," she said trying to walk pass him. "It's dirty."

He grabbed her arm before she could get completely pass him. He just stared at her as he sniffed the scent coming from her 'dirty' shirt. He looked into her now horrified face.

"Have you been drinking?" he asked sternly, still holding her arm.

She looked to Logan whose face showed just as much terror as her.

"No," she said pulling her arm away from his loose grip, trying to play it off. "Why would you think I was drinking?" she asked with a nervous laugh.

"Ughh, maybe because you smell like the clean version of the drunk, homeless guy that lives on the corner down the block," he told her sarcastically, but you could still tell that he was mad.

"What?" she asked trying to portray ignorance.

"Your shirt," he almost yelled at her. "It reeks of alcohol."

"Greg, uhmm…Dr. House," Logan said stumbling over his words as he tried to come to his friend's rescue, "Hayden didn't you spill alcohol on yourself when you were trying to…help Casey with that cut on her knee when she fell outside tonight," he finished eying House nervously hoping he would buy the story.

"Yeah, yeah," she said sounding a little to happy about the botched up explanation that Logan had just given. "That's what happened."

"Okay," House started. "That would explain why she smelled like rubbing alcohol if she in fact smelled of rubbing alcohol, but it doesn't explain why she smells like Vodka."

He eyed her a little while longer before she caved.

"Okay," she began, in a defeated tone. "We were at the party and some kids were drinking. One of them spilled their drink on me and that's why it's all over my shirt. Please don't tell mom, she's gonna freak."

"Have you been drinking?" he asked as he turned to the boy.

"No sir," the boy quickly replied as he jumped from the tone of House's voice.

"Stay here," he told them as he walked down the hall towards his bedroom.

They just looked at each other nervously and confused, as they waited for him to return. When he emerged from the bed room, he had his cane and his house keys. He grabbed his coat out of the hall closet as they watched him, dreading what was about to happen.

"Gimme the keys," he said holding his hand out to Logan. He complied and House proceeded to walk out of the door. He looked back at them waiting for them to follow.

"Where are we going?" Hayden asked, already knowing the answer.

"To Oz," he said, "I'm sure the wicked witch has something to say about this."

"No, please," she begged one last time, while Logan looked down at the floor just shaking his head, knowing they were both doomed.

But House was already to the front door of the apartment building. He opened it and stepped out, leaving it open for them to follow.

"We are so dead," Logan said as they followed him out of the building.

The ride all the way to Cuddy's House was silent. House wasn't saying anything because he was becoming furious at the thought of his underage daughter and the kid he had known since he was younger drinking alcohol. He didn't know where it came from, but he couldn't stop it. He was mad with both of them. Even if they weren't drinking when they noticed the other kids drinking they should have left. He thought he had better give Cuddy first dibs on this one though. She deserved it, and from what he had seen, she would be better at issuing the punishment. The two teens weren't saying anything because they were too preoccupied thinking about the trouble they had gotten themselves into.

He parked the car that Logan had been driving in her driveway as they all got out and walked up to the front door. House got there first and rung the doorbell, while Hayden and Logan lazily dragged behind not wanting to face the soon to be angry person on the other side of the door. She opened the door with a confused look on her face.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, as an energetic little girl stumbled along side of her.

"Just returning your teen AA members," he told her.

She furrowed her brow in confusion as the two teens walked up next to House.

"What's that smell?" she asked them. "House, are you drunk?"

"Not me he said," as he motioned towards Hayden and Logan.

"Oh my god," she said as they walked by her. "You two were drinking?"

"No," Hayden tried to explain. "We weren't drin-,"

"Then why do I smell it all over you?" She asked, half yelling.

House had by now walked in and closed the door behind him, not wanting to disturb the neighbors. He stood and watched as the scene unfolded in front of him. He grabbed Isabella and pulled her next to him when he saw Cuddy's eyes glaze over with anger.

"Someone spilled a drin-," she tried again.

"The party was for a sixteen year old kid," she yelled again. "There wasn't supposed to be any alcohol, so how did alcohol spill on you."

Madison was now standing in the middle of the hallway. She had come down to see what all the yelling was about.

"Some kids had alcohol, they hid it and bought it in, and a bunch of th-," she tried for the third time as Logan just helplessly shook his head accepting his faith.

"Well you had a car, you didn't have to stay there. You knew it was wrong and you could get into trouble. Why didn't you come home?"  
Hayden just looked at her.

"Well?" she said becoming more furious by the girl's silence.

"So you're gonna let me talk now?" she asked sarcastically.

House hurried to step between him when he saw Cuddy start to walk towards her. The girl took a step back, she had never seen her mother so angry with her. Logan just put his hand over his face, knowing that Hayden's comment had just made the situation worst.

"And you?" Cuddy said turning to Logan after House wouldn't let her get to Hayden. "Where you drinking and driving?"

"You were drinking?" Madison said as a huge smile came to her face. "Man, you guys are in so much trouble."

"Madison, go to your room," Cuddy snapped at her.

"Why?," she asked. "I'm not the one who got wasted."

"Go," Cuddy demanded, "and take Isabella with you."

Madison turned around and stumped down the hall towards the stairs as the little girl and the puppy, which had been recently deemed Trouble, followed behind her.

Cuddy tiredly passed her hands over her face as her and House both stared at the two teenagers left in front of them, none of them said anything and just stared in disappointment.

"We didn't drink any alcohol," Hayden yelled. "Why don't you guys believe us?"

"We believe you," House said. "It still doesn't explain why you decided to stay at a party where you knew there would be underage drinking."

Hayden sighed and looked at Logan who had given up a long time ago, knowing that she had no good explanation for staying at the party.

"Go to your room," Cuddy told her quietly. Logan just stood there. "You too," she told him.

He started off to what used to be the guest room, but had been recently declared his, since they were staying over more and more often. She had agreed to let him and his sister stay over while their grandmother had an overnight procedure done at a local hospital. Not that a sixteen year old couldn't stay at home by himself, but his grandmother was overprotective, and from the looks of it, her doubts had been validated.

House looked down at Cuddy as she just stared blankly at the floor in front of them. She noticed his eyes on her, and looked up at him.

"This is what you signed up for. You missed the innocent years," she told him with no hint of contempt in her voice.

She walked towards the kitchen and he followed. When he made it to the kitchen, she was at the sink rising out her mug. He leaned on the door frame and stared at her for a minute.

"Boys, suspension from school, alcohol…," he said, then looked up at her. "What did I miss?"

She smiled at him and leaned back on the kitchen sink. "One broken leg, two broken arms, two sets of braces, a few Christmas plays, and the release of a whole lot of pent up hormones and attitude."

He smiled back at her.

"Well I guess I better get some sleep," he said as he got up and walked out of the kitchen turning towards her bedroom rather than the front door.

She quickly followed behind.

"Hold on, where do you think you're going?" she asked him as she stepped between him and her bedroom door.

"To bed," he said as if it were obvious.

"Your bed is at your apartment," she told him.

"Well I'm really tired, plus I don't have my car," he informed her as he stepped around her. "I had to drive the two lushes home."

"Well then sleep on the sofa," she told him as she turned around and watched him open her bedroom door.

"Hello?" he said sarcastically, "leg."

He opened the door and walked into the bedroom leaving her standing in the hallway trying to come up with another sleeping arrangement. House was just getting comfortable under the covers when an overly energetic Isabella ran through the door and jumped in the bed crawling over him. Cuddy showed up at the door with a smile on her face. She suddenly had no problem with letting House share her bed tonight to soothe his leg, with Isabella in the middle of them course.

"What are you doing in here kid?" he asked her once she had gotten her knee out of his side.

"Madison put me out," she said looking down at him as she propped her elbows up on his chest. You would think the girl had known him for years, well her whole life.

"Go sleep with your brother then," he told her.

"He locked me out," she said nonchalantly.

"Hayden?" he questioned realizing the girl had exhausted all of her other options.

"She closed the door in my face."

"Tried the sofa?"

The girl's face registered fear. Cuddy knew that Isabella had trouble falling asleep without someone lying next to her. She was also afraid to be alone in the dark.

"You can sleep with me Izzy," Cuddy said as she walked into the room. "My bed is big enough for the both of us, and our mean guest."

Cuddy turned out the lights and climbed into bed on the other side of Isabella. She closed her eyes, and expected Isabella to snuggle up next to her, since the little girl always needed someone to be close to in order to fall asleep. When she didn't feel her come to her side of the bed she opened her eyes and saw the little girl had took her place laying next House, her head on his outstretched arm. She expected him to push the girl away, but his eyes caught hers through the dim moonlight coming through the window. He looked confused, and she could tell he didn't want the little girl in the bed let alone lying on his arm, but she could also tell that he wasn't going to push her away. She smiled at him, partly because she knew he was mentally uncomfortable with the child lying so close, also because it was sweet of him to let the little girl stay in her place. He looked away from her and she heard him let out a loud sigh, as she closed her eyes to go to sleep.

The next morning she awoke to the sound of her doorbell. She looked over and saw that House had his hand protectively around the little girls back. This made her smile as she got up to see who was at the door.

"Brian," she said as her smile quickly turned into a look of panic.

"Hey babe. I thought I'd surprise you," he said as he walked pass her and into the house.

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**A/N: Any comments?????**


	27. Chapter 27

Cuddy closed the door and turned to Brian, who was looking at her smiling.

"I thought you were out of town on business," she told him.

"I was, but I'm back in town until Wednesday," he told her, noticing the expression on her face. "Lisa, is something wrong?"

"Huh?" she said not registering his question right away. "No, nothing's wrong."

"Good," he said as he stepped closer to her. "I've missed you."

He tried to kiss her, but instinctively she, put her hand up blocking his lips from coming into contact with hers. He looked at her as if she was crazy, and she hurried to find an excuse to why she had just stopped him, because she really didn't know why she did.

"Morning breath," she offered before she quickly went into her bedroom, locking the door behind her and leaving him standing there confused.

"House," she said softly as she gently shook him, trying not to wake the little girl still asleep in his arms.

He just groaned as he stirred a little.

"House," she said again. This time he opened his eyes. "Get up Brian's here."

"He's not here to see me," he said as turned his back to her and tried to go back to sleep.

"House, get up," she said pulling the covers off of him. "I can't let Brian see you in my bed."

A smile came to his face and she hit him on the arm. "This isn't funny," she scowled at him. "Think of something; just don't let him know you're here."

She ran into the bathroom to brush her teeth and put on some clothes, so she didn't hear when Brian knocked on her bedroom door.

"Lisa, why is the door locked?" he said from the other side of the door. "Is everything okay in there?"

House slowly slid his arm from around the little girl careful not to wake her. He pulled the cover back over her and put a pillow in his place so Brian couldn't see her. He got up and slowly walked to the bedroom door.

"Lisa," Brian tried one more time. He stepped away from the door when he saw the door slowly starting to open. His face dropped when he saw House standing on the other side of the door.

"Tom," he said, "I didn't know you were here. Lisa's in the bathroom freshening up, she should be out in a minute."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Brian asked, his face now turning red.

The tone and loudness of his voice caused Isabella to wake up. She poked her head up from under the covers with a tired and confused look on her face and foiled House's plan to make Brian think that just he and Cuddy were in the room. It also caused Cuddy to quicken her pace in getting dressed. Isabella's recognized presence wouldn't stop House from messing with Brian though.

"Oh, things got kinda crazy last night," House told him. "I didn't want to be alone, so Lisa held me afterwards."

Cuddy stepped out of the bathroom just as House delivered his last line. Her mouth fell open in disbelief. Brian looked at her and she could see the anger and hurt in his eyes. He quickly turned and disappeared from the doorway.

"Brian wait," she called behind him as she followed him down the hall and out of the front door.

She finally caught up to him and grabbed his arm. He stopped and slowly pulled away from her, as he turned around to face her.

"Lisa if you wanted him back all you had to do was tell me," he told her, the anger still showing in his eyes.

"I don't want him back," Cuddy said, and flinched a little at how she internally acted to her own words. Everything inside of her screamed that that was a lie. "He brought the kids home last night, it was late and he slept over."

"Yeah, but in your bed," Brian said through clenched teeth. "In your bed with you."

"We didn't sleep in the bed together," she lied and inwardly kicked herself for doing so. "I let him have the bed because of his leg."

Brian just looked at her not really believing her.

"Brian I love you," she told him. "I would never do anything like what you're implying. I don't want to hurt you."

She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck as she stood on her toes to kiss him. He was slow to kiss back, but he eventually wrapped his arms around her and returned her kiss. She hated to do this to him, but she didn't want to loose him. Especially since the chances of a romantic relationship between her and House were about as possible as having ice glaciers appear off of the coast of Florida. He pulled away from her.

"I gotta go," he said still visibly upset, "I'll call you later."

With that he got in his car and drove off. She sighed and went back inside. She knew Brian was still mad at her, but she knew eventually that he would forgive her and everything would be fine with them again. She closed the door behind her and turned around to find House leaning on his cane with a smirk on his face.

"What?" she asked trying to sound defensive, knowing he had something he wanted to say.

"I have to give you your props," he said. "You, Lisa Cuddy, are a player."

"I am not trying to play him," she said. "I don't want to hurt him, I love him."

"Sure you do," he said under his breathe.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Can you bring me home?" he spoke up. "I got some things I need to tend to."

She eyed him suspiciously, knowing that's not what he said the first time. "Let me get my keys and my coat," she said.

House watched her as she walked pass him and down the hall, staring at her butt until she disappeared from his view. He was starting to feel bad, he could tell she was starting to doubt her and Brian's relationship. She convinced herself that Brian was what she wanted, what she needed. He had thought so too, but he was starting to think otherwise.

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Over the next few weeks, Cuddy patched things up with Brian. It was hard because he was coming and going out of town so much, that they hardly had any time to spend together. Their sex life had become non existent, partially because he was hardly around, and when he was around for some reason she was never in the mood. Brian had expressed his feelings to her. He felt like he was losing her to House, but she thought that was silly. House wasn't even pursuing her, and she definitely wasn't interested, at least that's what she told herself. She sat in her office thinking about the recent events of her personal life. House and the girls were growing closer with everyday that passed. With Madison, it was almost like he never left. Hayden on the other hand had her moments when she didn't want him around and would pass her snide remarks. A few days ago, she had gotten mad at Madison for calling him daddy. She had even gotten mad with Cuddy a few times for still being associated with him and for allowing him to come over. It upset her to see that Hayden was still hurting from House's absence in her life for those years, but she knew that it was something that they had to work through themselves. She had tried to talk to Hayden about it, but the girl just shut her out and refused to talk about it. She heard familiar laughing and looked up just in time to see Madison and Hayden coming through the door.

"Mom, look at these cool shirts dad bought us," Madison said holding out her shirt so Cuddy could read it.

'Have a Pheasant Plucking Day' Madison's shirt read with a half plucked bird on it. Her mouth fell open as she looked to Hayden's. 'Save Gas Ride the Handicaped' hers read with a picture of a man riding on the back of a wheelchair in which another man was sitting.

"Why would he buy those shirts?" she said out loud to no one in particular. The girls just looked at her confused.

"You don't like'em?" Hayden asked. "I think they're awesome."

"Just go to the gift shop and get two plan shirts and take those off... and try not to let anyone see you," Cuddy told them.

She handed them some money and the girls left to do as they were told. She exited the office behind them trying to find the infamous t-shirt connoisseur. She spotted him at the clinic desk reading through a file. She tapped his shoulder and he turned around. She opened her mouth to speak, but his t-shirt stopped her. 'National Breast Awareness Month...We Stare Because We Care.' She rolled her eyes, grabbed him by the wrist and quickly pulled him into her office.

"What is wrong with you, you can't wear that to work," she said motioning to his shirt. "And why would you buy Hayden and Madison those shirts and then bring them to the hospital?"

He just stared at her innocently. "What? You don't like'em."

"They're offensive," she said loudly.

He thought about the shirts. "Well I'm a cripple," he said referreing to Hayden's shirt, "I'm not offended."

"You're not in a wheelchair," she reminded him. "They're also inappropriate for two teenage girls to be wearing."

"They made them in their sizes, so I'll say they're pretty appropriate," he told her.

"They're just the company that makes the shirts. They just want the money. You are supposed to be the parent, the responsible one that decides if they buy it or not," she told him.

She really didn't have a problem with the shirts per se, both girls had enough of their own offensive paraphernalia, but she did have a problem with her kids wearing them while walking around the hospital she was in charge of, especially since everyone knew them by now.

"Well you don't want yours?" he asked as he pulled another shirt from his back pocket.

It had two four leaf clovers over the breasts with the words 'My Shamrocks Brings All The Boys To The Yard.'

She held her head down trying to act annoyed as she tried to hide the smile that came to her face.

"It has a St. Patrick's Day theme," he said looking at the t-shirt, as he held it up in front of him admiring his choice. "I was gonna get the one that said 'If I Had Balls They'd Be Bigger Than Yours' but I thought it might offend some of your old rich donors."

"Why does this even surprise me?" she said to no one in particular.

"So you don't like it?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that your taste in t-shirt humor doesn't appeal to everyone?" she asked him.

"No I can't say it has," he told her. "Why, have people been talking behind my back?"

"House," she said about to give him an example of her argument, "I finally got both my parents to come and see Hayden a few months after she was born. She spits up on the nice dress I picked out and you go to change her. You hand her back to my mother with a t-shirt with big letters that read 'Kickin' Ass and Takin' Naps' with a skull and two rattles that had replaced the bones. I send you to change her again, and my dad almost had a heart attack when he saw the words 'All Mommy Wanted Was A Back Rub' written across her stomach."

A huge smile had come to his face as he remembered the incident she was talking about. "Yeah, your dad was so pissed," he said reveling in the memory.

"I'm too busy today to deal with your little hi-jinks House, take the shirt off," she told him as she gathered some papers ready to walk out of her office again.

"Cuddy, if you wanted a strip tease all you had to do is say so," he told her. "You don't have to confiscate my clothes."

She rolled her eyes and was about to answer him, but they heard a big commotion coming from the clinic. They both stepped out of her office to see what was going on.

"What's wrong?" she asked the pharmacist, interrupting his spat with the delivery guy.

"This idiot delivers the wrong boxes to different sections of the hospital," the man said. "I'm tired of having to call around just to find my orders."

House looked on as Cuddy tried to settle the dispute between the two men. He took this as his chance to sneak away unnoticed, and get out of doing clinic duty. He was about to exit the clinic doors, but stopped when he saw Brian coming through them. He shot House a dirty look and continued walking to where Cuddy was standing. His sudden appearance and gesture made House stay in the clinic a little longer. Clearly, Cuddy wasn't expecting him, or else she would have been smiling from ear to ear, and she would have finished up all of her paperwork just to spend time with him, but her desk was covered with unfinished paperwork, and she seemed to be rushing to get something sent off.

"Lisa, can I talk to you for a minute, alone," he asked her trying to get her to come into her office with him.

"Brian, what are you doing here?" she asked him, after helping the delivery guy and the pharmacist reach an agreement.

"I came here to see you," he told her as he followed her over to the nurse's station. "Can we talk?"

"Can't it wait?" she asked him.

He tried to wait patiently as her and Julia traded papers, her telling Julia what to do with the papers she handed to her then signing some of the papers Julia handed to her.

House stepped away from the doors of the clinic when he realized he was standing right in front of them.

"Wow this place is a circus?" Hayden said as her and Madison walked back into the clinic.

He then realized why he couldn't really hear what was being said between the two of them. The clinic was almost over flowing with patients.

"Grace," Cuddy called to one of the nurses, "Could you call Dr. Weaver and Dr. Gates to see if they could help with clinic duty for the next two hours." The nurse nodded and picked up the phone.

"Lisa please?" Brian interrupted one more time. "I really need to talk to you, and I don't have much time, my plane leaves in a little while."

"I'm almost finished baby, but I really have to get this faxed by three," she told him.

Brian looked disgusted and a small smile came to House's face.

"House, what are you doing?" she asked seeing him just standing in the middle of the clinic. "Can you act like you're doing your job?"

This made Brian look over to House. He noticed the smile on House's face as he watched them and knew that it was at his expense. House got her attention even when he wasn't trying and here he was practically begging for it and he couldn't get it. This made him mad and even more determined to do what he had come to do. Brian went over and stood on one of the chairs in the waiting room.

"Alright everybody listen up," he yelled making everybody look at him, including House. "I came here to ask this beautiful woman something and I would appreciate it if you would all just please, keep it calm and give me a chance to do this before I have to leave."

Everyone kept quiet and kept their eyes on him, giving him permission to go ahead. He stepped down off of the chair and walked over to Cuddy. He pulled a small black box from his pocket and began to kneel on one knee in front of her. This made House's heart sink, and his stomach twisted into knots. He wanted to grab her and pull her away from Brian, but there was no way he would be able to explain himself if he did.

"Brian, what are you doing?" she asked him quietly, not believing her eyes.

"Lisa," he began, "you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. You've given my life a whole new meaning since the first day I saw you. You make me a better person, and I love you. So I would be honored if you would be my wife."

He opened the box to reveal a gold engagement ring with a huge rock sitting in the middle of the band. Her mouth fell open, along with Hayden's and Madison's. She brought her hand up to her mouth and stared at the ring, dazed as everyone in the clinic waited for her answer.

"Lisa?" Brian said nervously,waking her from her trance.

"Huh?" she said still not sure she was interpreting his words correctly.

"Will you marry me?" he asked her. "Will you be my wife?"

She stared at him a little longer, took a deep breathe and exhaled her answer. "Yes."

The clinic burst into applause as some of the nurses shouted their congratulations. Brian placed the ring on her finger and kissed her before pulling her into a hug. She had a huge smile on her face, while Hayden and Madison tried to seem happy for her, since she was happy. She was in her own world right now, and she was as happy as she could get for about ten seconds, until she looked over into a pair of blue eyes that portrayed an ocean of hurt, guilt, and anger. Her smile quickly dissipated, but Brian could not see since he was still holding on tight to her. She had only seen that amount of pain in his eyes a few times and did not think he was capable of feeling that amount of emotional pain anymore. The scary part was that she felt like she was the cause of it. They stared at each other a little while longer. Him feeling like someone had just reached in and pulled his heart out of her chest and her feeling like she was on the verge of losing her best friend, again. 'But Brian's supposed to be my best friend,' she thought to herself. 'Right? That's why I just agreed to marry him. He's the one I love.'

Not being able to stand the sight in front of him any longer he turned and left out of the clinic. Not saying a word, nothing rude, nothing sarcastic, nothing condescending... nothing. He couldn't find the words to express what he felt at that moment, and this was something to say for the doctor who was never left speechless. He felt like someone had punched him in the guts and knocked the wind out of him, only it was worst. She had walked away from him and into the arms of another man, and he couldn't deny it anymore, it hurt like hell. He stayed in his office until four thirty when he decided to leave a half hour early. He had even less of a desire than usual to be around people. He got his things, locked his office, and got on the elevator to go down. When he got down he saw Hayden and Madison walking out of the hospital with another girl and Cuddy waving bye to them. He hoped she would go back into the clinic without seeing him, but he had no such luck. She turned and locked eyes with him. The smile she had faded and she stood at the entrance of the hospital as he started to walk towards her. He had planned on leaving without saying anything, but she grabbed his arm and stopped him. He looked down at her, but she didn't say anything.

"You got rid of all your crotch rot patients," he said motioning to the near empty clinic. "I don't have a case; you don't need me here anymore."

She just stared at him trying to decipher his words which seemed to have a dual meaning to them. His eyes never left hers, that they indeed had a dual meaning.

"Congratulations,"' he said almost sulkily, nodding to the ring on her finger as it rested on his arm.

She nodded and removed her hand from his arm as she looked down at the floor. He stared at her a little while longer before walking out of the doors of the hospital.

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**A/N: I'm glad you guys are liking it so much and thanks for the comments. I have the rest of this story already written out and I don't want to change it, but I would definitely incorporate your ideas into the sequel if I decide to do one.**


	28. Chapter 28

She found herself driving towards his apartment. The girls were sleeping over at a friend's, and the girl's mother would drop them off at school in the morning, Isabella and Logan were at their grandmother's, so there was no reason to rush home. She didn't know why, but she needed someone to talk to. Brian was out of town, but she didn't think this was something she could discuss with him anyway. For some reason she had chosen to go to him. They had also become closer during the past few months and she had become comfortable enough with him to feel that she could talk to him about this. She parked her car across the street from his apartment and waited for a car to pass before crossing onto the sidewalk. She hesitated before picking up her hand and knocking on the door. She listened, there was silence. She was about to knock again, but she heard his slow footsteps getting closer to the door. She heard them stop then heard the lock being unlatched. He opened the door a little so she couldn't see past him.

"What?" he asked, out of habit more than anything.

"I jus-" she stumble rethinking her decision. "Can I come in?"

He looked at her suspiciously, but did not move from his place blocking the door. She realized his position blocking the door and thought that he may have had someone over.

"I'm sorry," she said feeling foolish. "If you're busy, I can leave."

He just stood staring at her a little longer making her feel even more uneasy. Without saying a word he stepped to the side, inviting her in. She studied him and hesitated before stepping into the apartment. He closed the door behind her and turned around to get back to the glass of scotch he had sitting on the table. He picked it up and finished it , then looked at her waiting for her to state her reason for being there. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to, he knew what was wrong already.

"House, I need to talk to someone," she stated relaxing in his presence.

"Hmm," he started sarcastically, "and you picked me to talk to. Why do I have to be punished because you said yes to marrying a man that you know could never make you as happy as you would like to be?"

Her mouth fell open. She was a little offended by his comment, and angry that he was right once again in his arrogance.

"He makes me happy," she said, her whole attitude changing.

"Really? Because you didn't look happy, but if your happy expression resembles a deer being caught in head lights by all means forgive me. If that's the case, you were definitely happy," he told her, with a hint of bitterness in his tone. She picked up on this.

"Well I'm sorry if," she stopped her self. "No, I'm not sorry." He looked at her with a shocked expression on his face. "I'm not gonna apologize to you for being happy, just because you decided that you wanted to be miserable for the rest of your life. I'm not going to down play my happiness to make you feel better, after …" she trailed off. "I don't have anything to be sorry about, you walked out on me."

"You came here so I could tell you that you're making a big mistake. Then when I say it and you get mad," he told her, a little angry and taken back by her comments.

"That's not why I came here," she said quietly.

"Well then why did you come? A newly engaged woman doesn't just show up on another man's door step," he told her matter-of-factly.

"I came here because I thought I could talk to you, have a serious adult conversation. Call me crazy, but I actually thought the caring, thoughtful man that I fell in love with all those years ago actually existed somewhere inside the mean, spiteful, bastard that's standing in front of me," she said, her attitude then turned to one of dejection as silence consumed the room. "Whatever happened to him?" she asked quietly, as she tilted her head to look up into his eyes.

He stared back at her almost breaking down from her beautiful gray eyes pleading with him. He quickly regained his composure and with all the sarcasm he could muster up at the moment said, "I locked him away in trunk…he was causing all kinds of hell for me. And he's not coming out to play anytime soon."

She looked down at the floor and then back up at him.

"That's too bad, because I really needed him tonight."

She stared at him for a moment longer, before turning and walking out of his apartment. He didn't try to stop her, he couldn't. Her words had temporarily paralyzed him. All he could focus on were the words, 'I really needed him'. He looked down at the floor feeling even lower than he had before she came. It was true though. The man she was looking for had long been locked away in the most distant recess of his mind. She was just lucky that she was one of very few people that could coax House into letting him come out. He went into the hall closet and got his jacket and put it on. He grabbed his cane, his bottle of vicodin, his keys, and walked out of the door trying to leave some of the 'mean, spiteful bastard' behind and trying to adjust to the light, now that the iron mask had been taken off.

She went home and fed the now house trained puppy, who seemed to know something was wrong by the way he moped around behind her as soon as she entered, and got in the shower. Hoping the hot water would melt away some of the confusion and doubts. She thought about Brian. It was the night of her engagement, and she was alone in her home. She didn't know if she should have said yes to Brian, she didn't know if what they had was strong enough to endure a marriage. She loved Brian, but she still longed for something in their relationship. She longed for what she had with House. She didn't even have her girls there to take her mind away from everything that was stressing her…away from everything bad. They were the only thing that kept her grounded, her only constant, even if their attitudes were sporadic. No matter what happened, knowing that she had them kept her sane. She could deal with anything as long as she had her girls. She stood under the shower and let the water wash the soap away from her. She was free of everything for a moment. But then she thought about him again, and the tears once again started to blend with the water that sprayed from the shower head. '_What more do you want Lisa?_' his words echoed in her head as the water from the shower brought back the memories of the rain falling down on them that night. '_I gave you everything I had worth giving. You have the best of me. You have the girls_.' The tears came harder and she started to shake uncontrollably. She was angry with herself; she shouldn't continue to let him have so much control over her. Maybe it was a mistake, maybe she shouldn't have let him back into her personal life. But in order for him to be back in the girls' lives, he had to be in hers to some extent. They were happy, and she had decided since the moment they were born that she would do anything to ensure their happiness, even if it meant setting herself up for a let down. She continued to let the water come down on her until it ran cold. She managed to get enough control of herself to dry off and put on her pajamas. With tears continuously rolling down her cheeks, she crawled under the covers and slowly curled into a ball.

She was preparing to cry herself to sleep when she heard the lock on her front door click. She was alarmed for a second, but quickly calmed down when she remembered her and House's conversation from the other day. She had asked him if he had taken the spare key from under her flower pot, just in case she had to change her locks. And he did as he always does when he's guilty of something, he sarcastically denied it.

She willed herself to stop crying and to be strong, to not show the image she had been portraying since she had walked into her house. She heard him take a couple of steps, the cane hitting the floor reaffirming that it was him, then he stopped. She once again wiped her face. The last thing she needed now was him taunting her about her attempt to be happy with and share her life with someone other than him. She heard his footsteps again, as he restarted his journey towards her bedroom. She had her back turned to the door, and when she didn't hear him anymore, she knew he had reached his destination. He didn't say anything, but she felt his eyes on her. She waited for him to say something, but he didn't.

"What do you want?," she asked exhausted from crying.

He took a deep breath and exhaled, ignoring the tone in her voice that was screaming at him to leave. He stared at her a little while longer and he felt his heart strings being tugged a little. He hated seeing her like this, confused, hurt, and alone. All of a sudden what he had deemed a favor to her grew to be something that he wanted just as much as, if not more than, she did. He wanted to be there for her to comfort her, to tell her that everything would be alright. He wanted to hold her just as bad as she needed him to. She was the only person that he could talk to and not have to explain himself to or guard himself around, he didn't really have to say anything.

_**And I'd give up forever to touch you,  
because I know that you'd feel me some how  
You're the closest to heaven, that I'll ever be,  
and I don't wanna go home right now_**

But he couldn't assure her everything would be okay. She wasn't marrying him, she was marrying Brian, and though he loved her, he couldn't give her all that she needed or wanted. Hell, he didn't even know what she needed or wanted. He hated himself at that moment. He felt responsible for what she was going through, and that, added to the thought of what she had gone through after he left weighed heavy on his conscious and his heart. But at least he would be here for her now. He propped his cane up against the chair next to the bedroom door and slowly made his way over to the bed.

"Okay Lisa," he said as he pulled back the covers. "You better enjoy this because it won't be happening too often. I can't cuddle a married woman every time her husband disappoints her."

He got into the bed and tapped her on the shoulder before reaching out his arms to her. She didn't move.

"Com'on," he said humbly, "I came all the way over here. You said you need me…I'm here."

His earnest tone made her turn over to face him, but she did not yet enter his arms, although she wanted to badly. Instead she just looked into his eyes. What she saw scared her and comforted her at the same time. She saw the man that she had thought was gone from her life forever; the man who had loved her unconditionally and who had allowed her to love him the same. He had let his guard down and so had she as a weak smile came to her face.

_**And all I can taste is this moment,  
and all I can breathe is your life  
And sooner or later it's over,  
I just don't wanna miss you tonight **_

She shifted towards him a little and he wrapped both of his arms around her pulling her close to him. Her smile grew stronger as she put both of her hands on each side of his face, grazing the stubble lightly with her fingertips. In this moment they were both the twenty-something-year-olds that had fallen in love with each other long ago. He gave in to the smile that threatened as he felt her hands caressing his face. She hadn't felt like this in years; not since before he told her he was leaving…when everything in her life seemed to be intact. And for this moment everything was intact again. She forgot about everything, the hospital, the ego maniacal donors and board members, the crazy patients, the heartache he had caused her… and Brian.

He was pleased that he could still have this effect on her. He hadn't seen her smile at him or react to him like this since before he broke her heart. He used to live for moments like this with her, and his want and need for that was becoming more persistent the longer he looked into her eyes. She had been and still was the only person he felt comfortable enough with to fully show this side of himself to. The only person that had seen through the façade he put on, and helped him to grow and nurture the loving, caring side of himself that no one else seemed to know existed.

_**And I don't want the world to see me  
Cause I don't think that they'd understand  
Where everything's made to be broken  
I just want you to know who I am**_

He wrapped the arm that she was lying on tighter around her and rested his hand on her bottom as she brought her hands down to his chest. This motion molded their bodies together and brought their face only inches apart. They looked deeper into each others eyes and he stroked her hair with his free hand. Their smiles faded as their faces drew nearer to each others'. Her lips were slightly parted and he could feel her warm breath against his lips. Right before their lips touched, the moonlight caught the diamond engagement ring on her left hand making it sparkle and reminding her of her recently made commitment. She slightly turned away from him and touched her cheek to his before looking into his eyes again.

"So what did you want to talk about?" he asked her letting out the breath he had been holding when they almost kissed, still holding her close.

"I don't want to talk about that anymore," she said her previous problem now feeling insignificant.

"Well why am I here?" he asked.

"We can still talk."

"About what?" he asked her.

"Anything," she told him, "as long as it isn't about the hospital…"

He grabbed her hand and held it up studying the ring on her finger.  
"Or that," she added.

So they talked, about everything else, but some subjects were still too hurtful for either one of them to deal with, so they left those subjects alone. They got on a now touchy subject for her. And he asked the one question she hoped he wouldn't.

"If you wanted more kids, why didn't you have any?"

She became quiet. "The opportunity just never presented itself," she told him.

The truth was she just never found another man that she felt was worthy enough for her to birth his child…but she was willing to try with Brian. But she had talked to him about it and he had told her that he didn't want any children. He was satisfied with her having Hayden and Madison. She had considered IVF, but after she met Brian that idea went out of the window. She didn't really want to have a kid without a father anyway. But she still wanted another baby and Brian didn't; just one more reason that she was confused about her decision to marry him.

"Why not?" he continued. "Is Matthew sterile?"

"No," she said quietly,ignoring the intentional mess up of Brian's name, as she rested her head on his chest. The tone of her voice told him that he had struck a nerve, and she didn't want to talk anymore.

She closed her eyes and nuzzled his neck letting her contact with him bring her back to the comfortable place she had been at that start of their wandering conversation. She felt guilty for taking such pleasure in being in his arms, knowing she had just agreed to marry Brian, but she couldn't find the strength to pull herself away from him…and as guilty as she felt, it couldn't compare to or take away from the elation she was feeling at that moment.

_**And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming,  
or the moment of truth in your lies  
When everything feels like the movies,  
yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive**_

He turned to lye on his back, pulling the top half of her body onto him. Her lips slightly brushed his neck sending a chill down his spine. She felt it, and brought one hand up to his face and let her thumb once again caress his face. She adjusted herself so that her head lay closer to his heart, so she could hear the rhythm of the now thawed heart of his. A smile came to her face, as the sound of his heart and the feel of his hand caressing her back lulled her into a peaceful sleep.

He felt her breathing slow, and knew that she was sleeping. He looked down at her, amazed at how he could fool himself into thinking that he didn't miss this, that he didn't miss her. He smiled to himself as he watched her sleep, soon letting her warmth and the softness of her skin send him into a dream of his own.

_**And I don't want to world to see me,  
cause I don't think that they'd understand  
Where everything's made to be broken,  
I just want you to know who I am**_

* * *

He walked towards her office, a little upset about having to come to her, but not too upset, he would still get to see her. The night before, his defenses had been lowered. A wall that had taken him years to build had been knocked down in one night, and he wasn't too sure of how to start rebuilding it. He had tried all day to act as if nothing happened, but the truth is he only wanted to be as near to her as he had been the night before. But he had successfully suppressed those urges to tell her how he really felt all morning. He hadn't even told Wilson that he had gone to her house just to hold her and talk to her, knowing he would figure him out sooner or later and deduce that he wasn't as cold towards her as he had previously let on…that he never stopped loving her.

"When I page you, giving you my location" he started, "it means I need you to come to me. You aren't supposed to page me back telling me to come to your office."

She rolled her eyes at him as she rubbed the back of the little girl she was holding.

"Well you came so what did you want?" she asked looking back at the paper work.

He decided to deal with the problem on his own since he had only come to try and make her day more miserable. He studied her for a while watching her try to decide rather to try and do paperwork or focus all of her attention on the little girl. Her instincts got the better of her and she opted for the little girl as she stood up from the desk and walked over to the sofa still holding the little girl.

"You know you can't effectively do your job with a sick four year old attached to you're hip," he told her.

"Well what did you want me to do?" she asked him clearly upset that he stated what was obvious to her. "I couldn't take her to daycare sick, and her grandmother can barely take care of her self let alone a sick child. Logan's at school so he couldn't help with her."

He watched as she rocked and tried to soothe the little girl who was obviously in pain, as she twisted and tightened her muscles and let out small cries of pain in what was obviously not a peaceful sleep.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked a little concerned.

"Dr. Smith said it was the stomach flu," she told him. "She has a fever and has been throwing up all morning."

"Have you eaten lunch?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said sarcastically, "because I just have so much time between all the paperwork on my desk and the sick child in my arms."

"Well you don't have to be rude about it," he said as he walked out of her office.

He returned a little while later with a white plastic bag and a Styrofoam cup, which he sat down on the table in front of her.

"What's that?" she asked still holding a now awake Isabella.

"Lunch," he said simply.

She looked into the bag and saw a huge Caesar salad with a small bowl of vegetable soup sitting next to it. She smiled at the nice gesture that she definitely wasn't expecting. She thought that when he'd left this morning, that had been the end of his amiable behavior towards her. She looked back at him when she saw him reach his arm out to her.

"Give me the kid," he said. She hesitated.

"Unless you plan to eat with her latching on to you," he told her.

She handed Isabella to him and she was surprised when the girl didn't put up a fight. Instead she just laid her head on his shoulder and tried to go back to sleep. He stayed in her office the next few hours holding the little girl, allowing her to eat and actually get some work done. He told himself it was because she would allow him to sleep as long as the girl was sleeping and not because he wanted to help her out and certainly not because he was becoming attached to the little blond, curly headed girl that slept in his arms.

* * *

**A/N: Hoped you guys liked the Huddyness!!**

**Disclaimer: Song is Iris by Goo Goo Dolls**


	29. Chapter 29

"How can you not have anything to eat in this place?" Hayden asked as she, Madison, and Logan raided House's pantry and fridge and Isabella watched.

"Well I had some things," House said, "but you three ate it all. If Cuddy would've told me that I had to feed three bottomless pits, I would've gone shopping."

Brian was back in town and he and Cuddy were out on a date. House wasn't babysitting because they were old enough to stay home by themselves and watch Isabella also. But he had agreed to have them over since a part of their recent punishment was not being able to stay home alone.

"Mom always has food," Madison said closing the refrigerator door.

"Well maybe we shou..." House trialed off, as an idea popped into his head.

"Com'on lets go," he said walking out of the kitchen.

"Where are we going?" Hayden asked.

"I don't care where we're going," Logan said. "If there's food, I'm there."

They all grabbed their things and headed out the door, House being the only one who knew exactly where they were going. He drove about ten minutes before pulling up into Cuddy's driveway.

"You brought us home?" Madison asked confused.

"Yeah," House started, "It's like the supermarket, only better. Everything's already paid for."

They got out of the car and went inside. He knew that if Cuddy and Brian went anywhere after their date, it would be back to her place, since Brian was already in the process of moving in. But he would be there to spoil their after dinner plans, and she wouldn't be able to kick him out, without explaining herself to the kids.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

A few hours later, Cuddy and Brian were clumsily making their way from the car to the front door, Brian not being able to keep his hands off of her. But Cuddy did notice a light coming from the living room window.

"That's weird," she said as Brian kissed her neck.

"What's weird?" He asked between the kisses he was planting all over her.

"No one's supposed to be here."

She heard laughing as they got closer to the front door.

"Brian stop," she said shrugging a little to block excess to her neck. "I think the kids are here."

"But I thought they were gone for the night," he said a little disappointed realizing someone was indeed inside of the house.

She unlocked the door and they went into the living room, were they saw House sitting in the chair at the end of the coffee table holding Isabella and everyone else sitting on the floor, and a big bowl of salsa dip sitting in the middle of the table. They were playing Uno.

"Hey," House said being the first one to notice them. "You guys are back early."

Cuddy just looked at him knowingly as Brian became less disappointed and more angry at seeing House there again, especially since he was blocking his rare bedroom action. Isabella got off of House's lap and ran over to Cuddy. She leaned down to catch the little girl as she lunged herself into her arms.

"You wanna play, _Lisa_?" he asked making sure that Brian knew he wasn't invited.

"No," Brian said answering for her. "I think we'll just go back to my place. We wouldn't want to interrupt your fun."

Brian grabbed her arm, prepared to lead her back out of the door.

"That's nice," House said, "but I was talking to Lisa."

"Yeah com'on mom," Madison said. "You haven't played Uno with us in a while, stay and play with us."

"Uhmm, not tonight baby," Cuddy said seeing the eagerness in Brian's eyes. She put Isabella down, and looked back over to them. "Maybe tomorrow night."

"Why not tonight?" House asked. "Is there something else you guys have planned for tonight?"

Cuddy's mouth opened to answer him, but she realized she couldn't with everyone's eyes being on her, the three teens seemingly waiting for her to say the wrong thing. Brian just glared at House.

"Maybe we can just stay and play with them," Cuddy whispered as she turned to Brian. "We can go over to your place tomorrow night, and I can help you get the rest of your things, and we can have some alone time."

"So you're playing?" House asked. "Because if you are we have to deal you a hand."

"Deal us in," she said as she stepped into the living room, but Brian grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"Can I speak with you for a moment, Lisa," he said, almost through clenched teeth.

"Sure," she said as she started to walk towards her bedroom with him following. They went into her bedroom and closed the door.

"Well, I'm going to get some more salsa,"' Logan said grabbing the bowl as he got up from the table.

"I want another soda," Hayden said getting up to follow him.

"Can you bring me one?" Madison yelled behind her.

"No," Hayden yelled back, "get your own."

Madison got up, irritated, and made her way to the kitchen.

"Why are you smiling?" Isabella asked after seeing the smirk on House's face.

"Because I'm winning," he told her.

"No, you still gots all of your cards," she told him.

"Yes," he said as he got up holding the little girl who had made her way back into his arms, "but I know how to play them."

He walked out of the living room and down the hall to Cuddy's bedroom.  
00000000000000000000000000000000000000

"I didn't know he was going to be here Brian," Cuddy said. "I swear."

"So is this how it's going to be?" he asked. "Him just popping up whenever he feels like it. I don't know if I can live with that. My soon to be wife's ex-fiance popping up at our home whenever he feels like it."

"Brian," Cuddy said exasperated, "he doesn't just show-,"

"Yes he does," he said cutting her off. "And you've always got those other kids here."

"Who? ...Izzy and Logan?" she asked a little offended by the tone of his comment.

"Yes," he half yelled. "It's almost as if they live here. Can you tell me now if you plan on adopting them, because I think that's something I would want to know before we get married."

"What?" she asked still surprised by the conversation they were having. "I'm not adopting them. Where is this coming from?"

"It's coming from me never having anytime alone with my soon to be wife. It's coming from you always having what I feel to be intruders in our lives," he told her.

"They're not intruders," she told him. "I love those kids very much, and their mother was one of my dearest friends, and I'm just doing for them what I would want someone to do for my girls if something had to ever happen to me."

"Okay, I get that, but you don't have to be so involved with them. For God's sake their grandmother lives right down the street."

"She's sick," she yelled back. "She's in her eighties and she isn't well enough to run behind a teenager and take care of a four-year old."

"Well don't they have any aunts or uncles who are willing to take them in?" he asked.

"No," she said simply, as she walked towards the door to see who was knocking.

She opened the door to see House making a pouty face and Isabella mocking his actions.

"Please stop fighting Mommy and Daddy," House said.

Brian walked up behind Cuddy. "I'm trying to have a private conversation with my fiance." He slammed the door in their faces.

"That was uncalled for," Cuddy told him.

"So now you're defending him?" Brian asked.

"I'm not defending him," she told him.

"I'll just leave," he said opening the door again. "Call me when you get your priorities straight."

He walked out, and this time Cuddy was a little too tired and heated to settle things with him right then, so she let him leave. She shook her head and went to put on her pajamas. She didn't think anything was wrong with her priorities, it's just that Brian wasn't willing to accept them as they were. She could understand him being mad about House, but not about Izzy and Logan. She opened her bedroom door to find House leaning against the wall and Isabella pacing around clumsily at his feet.

"Bad date?" he asked her innocently.

"That's none of your business," she told him.

"Okay, but we took a poll," he said, then looked down at the little girl. "Tell Lisa what we think of Brian."

Isabella gave a thumbs down, poked her tongue out, puffed her cheeks and blew into the air. She then ran to Cuddy and she picked her up.

"Sweetie, that's not nice," she told her. "Don't do that, Brian's a nice guy."

"He closed the door in our face," she told Cuddy, who in turn looked at House. He just stretched his eyes in a 'kid's got a point' kind of way.

"Okay," he started. "We have a douche bag, a tool, I believe she was trying to say blow hole, and I vote as-,"

Cuddy put her a hand over his mouth and glared at him. "Watch your mouth," she told him, before removing her hand.

"Asshole," he said, making Isabella gasp and put both hands over her mouth. She then looked to Cuddy with her eyes wide and an amused smirk on her face.

"Don't ever say that word," Cuddy told the little girl. "It's a bad word."

"You know you could've just kissed me," he told her. "Then I would've done just about anything you wanted. But if you really want me to be your slave, you would have to have s-,"

"House," she said sternly, cutting him off.

"Com'on," he told her. "It's not like you're having sex with him."

She turned to him with a shocked expression on her face.

"Izzy, go play in the living room with your brother," she told the little girl, as she put her down. She ran to the front of the hall and disappeared into the living room.

"What are you trying to imply?" she asked him as she took a few steps closer to him, ready to engage in the discussion with him now that the little ears were out of range.

"I'm not trying to imply anything," he told her. "I thought I was being pretty blunt about it."

"I'm having sex with him," she said not too convincingly.

"No, you're not," he told her knowingly. "I mean you did, but you're not now."

"How would you know?"

"Because I know you," he told her. "Now is it you holding out or...never mind stupid question. Are you afraid he has cooties?" he asked sounding like a little boy. "You should've thought about that..."

"Shut up House," she told him. "My relationship with Brian is perfectly fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked her. "Because people who are fine with their relationships don't usu,-"

"Are you guys playing or not?" Hayden asked, as she stepped into the hall way, interrupting them.

Cuddy rolled her eyes at him and turned around towards Hayden. She went into the living room leaving House standing there. He was trying to figure out why she wasn't sleeping with Brian, but he could only come up with one reason. He already knew she was unsure in her relationship, but he didn't think he was part of the reason for that.

* * *

"Madison, I don't see it," Cuddy told her as she searched all over House's apartment.

She had gotten permission from House to borrow the extra set of keys to his apartment from Wilson. Madison had asked her to check and see if she had left the prop for her report at his place. He had been at the hospital overnight working on a case, and had offered to go himself, but she refused to let him, knowing that he probably wouldn't return in a timely fashion.

"Look for it," the girl whined through the phone.

"I am looking for it. I just don't see it."

"Maybe he put it up somewhere. I need it, it's forty percent of the grade for the report."

Cuddy closed the drawer on the desk in the hallway and opened the hall closet. She searched the bottom then started searching the top shelf.

"Are you sure you left it here? Because I don't see it," she told her.

"I think I left it there," the girl said now not too sure of herself.

"Great," Cuddy told her. "You _think_. This wouldn't have happened if you guys would just keep up with your things like I asked you to...damn it."

"What's wrong?" the girl asked.

"Nothing. I knocked down some papers and they're everywhere," she explained.

Then she heard Hayden's voice in the background. "Here Loser, you put this in my bag."

"Don't throw it Hayden," Madison yelled, but obviously Hayden threw it anyway as she continued yelling at her older sister. "You could've broken it."

She heard Hayden issue another _'loser'_ through the speaker before Madison spoke again. " I hate her."

"Don't say things like that Madison," Cuddy told her, "especially about your sister." The girls were always fighting and saying mean things towards each other, and she always tried to get them to stop. She didn't know why because she knew her efforts were futile. Here and her sister were the same way. It was just a phase, and they would grow out of it, hopefully soon. "So you have what you need?"

"Yeah," she told her. "Sorry I made you leave work and everything."

"That's okay just keep track of your things from now on. Have fun at school."

"Yeah, right," Madison said before hanging up the phone. Cuddy smiled at her daughter's reply before stooping down to pick up the papers that had spilled out of the blue shoebox when it fell from the top shelf of the closet.

She started to just throw them back in the box, but stopped when she saw Hayden's or Madison's names written on the envelopes. She opened one and was shocked when she saw that it was a birthday card for Hayden's eleventh birthday. She opened another and saw that it was for Madison's eighth birthday. She went through all of them and saw that they contained cards for each of the girls' birthdays that he had missed. She looked back into the box and saw some other papers and some DVD cases. She grabbed a few of the DVD cases and saw that one of them was empty. She figured that it must have been in the DVD player. She took the box and the cards into the living room and turned on the television and the dvd player before starting to rummage through the other contents of the box. She didn't get far because a familiar conversation coming from the television speakers caught her ears.

_"My god, you're enormous," she heard House say in a playful tone. "I don't think you should be eating that."_

She didn't look up at the tv right away. She thought it would keep her from crying, but the tears came anyway. She looked up to see a younger version of herself smiling into the camera as she sat against the headboard of the bed in the old apartment she shared with House, while she was in medical school. She had on some black yoga pants and a pink tank top that did not fully cover her well rounded tummy. She had books and papers scattered all around her and she was eating a bowl of chocolate pudding.  
***************************************

_"What are you doing?" he asked her, his voice coming from behind the video camera._

_"I'm studying for Step I," she said as she leaned into the camera._

_"Did you raid the fridge before you started?" he asked focusing in on her belly, which was the only thing that had gotten significantly bigger on her since she had gotten pregnant._

_He brought the camera back to her face and her smile had gone, she was giving him an evil look._

_"I'm sorry," he said, "just don't sit on me again." She hit him in the arm._

_The camera shifted to the side and his face came into the picture next her._

_"Okay people," he started, "we are at the end of the second trimester. Three more months to go and Hayden Rose House will be a real live, eating-" she cut him off as she glared at him again._

_"She's a real live person now," she told him as he looked over at her. Her stare didn't falter, as he stared at her for a little while before turning back to the camera._

_"Okay, I'm not willing to lose this battle again," he said, "so is the real live little person living inside of you active today."_

_"She just kicked," she told him as she leaned back against the headboard again, causing her abdomen to stretch out a little._

_She put her hands on her tummy and started to rub it a little, as if she was trying to find something. A little while later a smile came to her face. She looked at House, took his free hand and placed it in the spot where she had felt the tiny kicks. He still had the camera pointed towards both of them. He held his hand there and after a few seconds a smile appeared on his face, as he too felt the baby kick. He looked at her with the huge smile still plastered on his face._

_"I don't usually fall for the round type," he told her as he brought his face closer to hers, "but I couldn't love you anymore if I tried."_

_He kissed her, and the picture cut out. Only to be replaced by one of a grinning House holding a newly born Hayden as she struggled to open her eyes against the light that flowed throughout the room.  
_****************************************

She pressed stop, she couldn't watch anymore of it. All of the feelings she had been trying to fight off for the last couple of months came rushing forward, full fledged. She couldn't deny them to herself anymore. The tears flowed freely down her face as she easily remembered how happy they both had been. _'Why does he still have all of this?_' she thought to herself. _'Why was he watching this video?_' She took a minute to calm herself and the tears started to fall less frequently down her face. She continued to search the box for more signs of their past. She came across an envelope with her name on it, and took it from the box. It seemed slightly heavier than the other envelopes and had a small obscured bulge in the corner. She pulled the paper out and saw that whatever was causing the bulge was attached to the letter that was inside. She slowly unfolded the letter, not knowing what she would find written on the inside...

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter will bring the rating up to M so the rating is changing, now**.


	30. Chapter 30

She unfolded the paper, but didn't get a chance to read a word before the tears started to come hard again. There was a whole punched in the bottom of the letter with a short cream colored ribbon threaded through the whole. It was what was hanging from the other end of the ribbon that brought her to tears; a small silver ring band with a diamond in the middle, the engagement ring that House had given to her when he proposed. She observed the once familiar object through blurred eyes, and smiled when she saw the words 'To you, forever, you're mine now' engraved on the inside of the band. Still toying with the ring in one hand, she read the letter that was never sent.

'_**Lisa,**_

_**I'm sorry for everything that has happened between us, but you have to know that I love you with all of my heart. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you and would give anything for you not to have to go through this. But you must, because if I stay, I will only bring you even more heartache and pain , and that is the last thing I want to do to you and the girls. I would hate myself if I brought to your lives the hurt and angst that my father brought into me and my mother's lives. I love you all too much to ever do that to you. I know what you must be feeling right now, and Baby, I would give anything to bare that pain for you. Please let the girls know that I love them with everything I have in me, and that I would never choose to leave them without good reason. Let them know that they didn't do anything wrong … that I couldn't ask for two more perfect little angels. And you have to know that you didn't do anything either. I left to give you a chance to find someone better…someone who can give you and the girls a better life than I can. I don't deserve you, and you deserve better than me. You have my heart…**_

_**Greg'**_

She looked down at the ring she held in her hand. Though still crying, she now had a reason for why he had left them. She saw the date on the top of the letter and saw that it was the same day that she had given him the ring back.

******************

"_Com'on baby, give me your hand," she told Hayden, reaching for her hand as she balanced a sleeping Madison in the other arm. _

_The girl placed her hand in her mother's and they walked to the front door of the house they had parked in front of. She knocked on the door and tried to shield both of the little girls from the rain that was beginning to fall harder. A few seconds later a friend she had met through the man she was going to see opened the door. _

"_Hey," he said enthused as he bent down and let the little girl jump into his arms. "Where'd this little lady bug come from?" he asked referring to the red and black ladybug raincoat she had on, as she started to laugh from him tickling her._

"_Hi James," Lisa said as she stepped into the home._

"_Hey," he told her than looked back to the little girl. "Julie's in the kitchen, why don't you go let her know you're here. She might have some cookies."_

"_Okay," she said with a smile as he put her down. He watched the girl disappear into the house, before turning back to Lisa. _

"_Are you okay?" he asked her rubbing her shoulder._

"_I'm fine," she lied trying to hold back tears._

"_I know it's only been a little over a week," he told her. "If you want me to come with you, Julie can watch the-,"_

"_No," she told him, "I wanna do this on my own."_

"_Okay," he said. He hugged her then took the little girl from her arms. She said goodbye then left the house. _

_The rain had started falling harder after she had gotten halfway to her destination. It had been a little over a week since House had walked out on them, and she was now on her way to seem him. She called him when she was almost there and told him that she was on her way. He of course wanted to know how she knew where he was and didn't want her to come. She had found his new location from someone who worked at the hospital he had just quit. She looked at the white envelope that lay on the passenger seat and became infuriated again. She would return it to him face to face because she had a few choice words for him…she also needed to find out why. She pulled into the driveway and saw his car there. The house was dark except for a dim golden light coming form one of the front windows. He was waiting on her because he opened the door right as she was about to ring the doorbell. They stared at each other for a moment, him trying to hold himself back from wrapping his arms around her and telling her how sorry he was and her trying not to break down and cry in front of him. He was the first to look away as he stepped to the side allowing her to come in out of the rain._

_They stood in the dark foyer, the dim light from the study being the only thing illuminating the room. Again, they just looked deeply into each others eyes. He surveyed how beautiful she looked with her dark, slightly wet curls starting to stick to her face. She tried to stand strong but he noticed the hurt and the pain that shown in her beautiful eyes. And he thought he felt his heart twist into another knot, if that was at all possible._

"_How are the girls?" he asked breaking the silence._

"_They're fine," she said in the coldest tone she could fine. She quickly changed the subject not wanting to get into personal matters; this was already hard enough. "I came to return this."_

_She extended the white envelope with his hand writing on it and he knew what it was. _

"_Lisa," he started, "I don't want it back. "_

"_I don't want or need your money," she told him. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of my children on my own."_

_He stared at her hurt by the angst in her voice. _

"_I'm not taking it back," he said. "I know you can take care of them, I…I just feel like I should be doing something."_

"_Well if you're not going to do what they need you to do, why do anything at all," she said coldly, placing the envelope on the table in the foyer. _

_The room grew silent once more. "I didn't want this," he told her, not being able to maintain indifference to the situation any longer. "But it's best this way. I love y-"_

"_Stop," she told him as the tears she had been holding back started to slowly roll down her face. "Don't do that, don't lie to try and make me feel better."_

"_I'm not lying," he said loudly, as his emotions started to get the best of him. "I love you more than anything, and I hate to see what this is doing to you, I hate myself for doing this to you."_

"_Then why don't you just come home?" she asked him, as the tears started to fall more frequently._

_He looked into those same pleading eyes and he became disgusted with himself. "I told you, it's better this way."_

"_For who?" she yelled at him. "For you?"_

"_No for you," he replied. "For the girls."_

_She just looked down at the floor trying to stop her tears from coming, and trying to understand the logic behind his argument._

"_Why is it better this way?" she asked him, still looking at the ground. He didn't answer; he couldn't explain it to her. She would only refute him and he already had his mind made up. He wasn't going to risk their happiness. He just watched her, knowing that he could do everything to stop her pain at that moment, but in the long run, he felt he would be the only one that benefited from doing so. Everyone else would suffer, and he was much more willing to take on the long term suffering than he was willing to push it off on them. Still, all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and ease her pain…so he did. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him, letting her cry into his chest. He knew this wouldn't change anything; it would make it better for only a moment. Everything would be fine, until they were no longer in each others arms. After moments passed and she had stopped crying, she pulled away and looked up at him; his arms still around her waist holding her close. She slowly brought her hands up to his shoulders and slowly slid them upwards until they rested on the sides of his face. They stared into each others eyes for a moment and she started to slightly pull his face downwards towards hers. She stood on her toes to meet him half way, and brushed her lips slightly against his. She looked up into his eyes one more time before their lips crashed into a desperate and longing, yet passionate and tender kiss._

_****It's not a silly little moment,**  
**it's not the storm before the calm**  
**This is the deep and dying breath of **  
**this love that we've been working on**  
**Can't seem to hold you like I want to,  
so I can feel you in my arms**  
**Nobody's gonna come and save you,**  
**we've pulled too many false alarms**_

_**We're going down and you can see it too  
We're going down, and you know that we're doomed****  
****My dear we're, slow dancing in a burning room**_

_The started to furiously strip each other of their clothes and he forcefully, yet gently, pushed her against the wall, stumbling over her shoes that lay in the middle of the floor and allowing her to step out of the jeans he had recently slide down her thighs. His shirt was already gone and he kissed her neck as he started to undo his own pants. He then started to fumble with the buttons on the over sized blue shirt that belonged to him as she ran her fingers through his hair and tilted her head to the side to give him access to more places on her neck. He pulled the shirt down off her shoulders, letting it gather at her bent elbows, as he started to kiss her collar bone making his way to the top of her breasts. He slid her bra straps down her arms after tossing the shirt on the floor close to her jeans. He put one hand on her lower back to create a small space between her and the wall, allowing his hand to reach behind her and undo the clip of the blue laced bra she had on, causing it to fall to the floor. His head drifted down from her neck to the top of her breast as he covered her in kisses. A soft moan escaped her mouth as she felt him take her left breast into his mouth, working his tongue skillfully around her nipple. She felt the warm pool of moisture between her thighs begin to soak through her blue laced panties as his mouth departed from one of her breasts only to perform the same acts on the other. He slid the panties down her thighs then picked her up allowing them to fall to the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist allowing him to sandwich her between him in the wall. She rapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward and captured his mouth in another kiss just as passionate as the first one. They both panted heavily trying to catch their breath from the kiss. She leaned her forehead against his and said, just above a whisper, "Make love to me."_

_He looked into her eyes for a second then kissed her softly at the corner of her mouth. He looked back into her eyes as he lowered the front of his boxers allowing his hard penis to spring free. She gasped letting her warm breath brush against his lips, as she felt the initial penetration of him entering her. But he didn't stop, he continued to slowly insert the rest of himself into her at a slow pace. She weakly moaned his name as he inserted the last inch and a half of himself into her and she felt him in her lower abdomen. He grabbed her ass and she buried her face into his neck to stifle her moans as she started to rock her hips against him. He thrust in and out of her at a steady, even pace, not to slow and not to fast. She dug her nails into his shoulders, threw her head back and closed her eyes as he picked up his speed a little. He watched her intently as exotic moans and cries escaped her throat and mixed with the sound of the rain coming down harder outside. He could feel her muscles contract, trying to pull him back inside of her every time he withdrew himself from her. A thin film of sweat covered both of them, and the light coming from the lamp in the study made her glow in his arms, but it seemed to him that the light was coming from her. She was so beautiful, he thought, as he made love to her for what he knew would be the last time. She too thought it might have been the last time, but she still held out hope in her heart. The way he was making love to her, with such care and passion, she hoped this meant that he changed his mind and decided to come back home. A tear escaped her eye as she felt him go deeper with in her, and she hoped that he wouldn't leave her. That this wouldn't be the last time they made love. He saw the tear and kissed her on the cheek, letting it disappear onto his lip. "Open your eyes," he whispered in her ear, "look at me, Lisa." She slowly opened her eyes to see his blue eyes focused only on her. His whole purpose in the world at that moment was to satisfy her, and as far she was concerned he was well on his way to doing so. He held her up with one hand as he grabbed her hand with the other and intertwined his fingers with hers. He kissed her, never breaking his rhythm, and leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you," she told him breathlessly, her breathing becoming more uneven every time he rocked his hips back into hers. "I love you too," he told her, and a shiver ran down her spine, letting him know that his words had brought her that much closer to the edge. He let go of her hand and planted his hand back on her bottom, giving himself a better grip as he quickened his pace. Her moans became louder and her breathing more uneven as she started to tremble in his arms. He kissed her neck as she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck and loudly moaned his name one last time as she jerked uncontrollably in his arms. Moments later she felt his warm seed spill into her as he grunted out her name. _

_They stayed against the wall in that position for a while, him using the wall as the now needed extra support to hold his weight and hers as his legs trembled slightly beneath him, enjoying his last few moments inside of her. He kissed her shoulder after she caught her breathe and she put her hands on his face to bring him into a final kiss. She pulled back, her hands still on his face, and her eyes again pleaded with him, this time with a spark of hope, and he realized what he had done._

_The only words that he could think of to let come out of his mouth was, "I'm sorry." It wasn't the 'I'm sorry' she was looking for though and she knew it. The fragile smile she had on her face was instantly shattered by these two little words. She looked at him searching his eyes, not believing what he was telling her and all the hurt and anger she had felt when she arrived came back ten times as hard._  
**  
_**I was the one you always dreamed of,  
you were the one I tried to draw.  
How dare you say it's nothing to me?  
Baby, you're the only light I ever saw  
I'll make the most of all the sadness,  
you'll be a bitch because you can.  
Oh, you try to hit me just to hurt me  
so you leave me feeling dirty,  
cause you can't understand_**

_**We're going down, and you can see it too.  
We're going down, and you know that we're doomed.  
My dear we're, slow dancing in a burning room****_

"_Get away from me," she almost whispered. _

"_Lisa I'm so-,"_

"_Get the hell away from me," she yelled as she hit him in the chest with the sides of her fists._

_He looked into her eyes to see something he had never seen in her eyes before, hate. He looked down at the floor disgusted with himself, and slowly let her legs slide from around his waist as he slid out of her. He tucked himself back into his boxers as she slowly slid down the wall and pulled her knees into her chest as the tears started to come again. He couldn't look at her like this, so he just stared at the wall in front of him. The spot where he had just shared his last moments of passion, with the woman he stayed like that for a moment, the only sound being the rain falling outside.  
_

"_Oh my god," he heard her say, the pain and disgust obvious in her voice._

_He looked down at her and saw that she was looking at something in the other room. He followed her eyes and saw that she was staring at a woman's picture on the wall. He immediately opened his mouth to explain. _

"_It's not what you think," he said as he reached out to touch her shoulder. _

_She quickly pulled away not allowing him to touch her, and looked at him like he was lower than whatever she had previously despised the most. _

"_Lisa we're just friends," he said as she scrambled to put her clothes back on. _

_She managed to get her pants and shirt back on and tucked her panties and bra into the back pockets of her jeans, the whole time he was trying to explain, but she wasn't hearing anything. She just stared at him once more in disgust and he reached out to touch her again._

"_Don't you dare fucking touch me," she yelled at him, and started for the door._

"_I'm not sleeping with her," he said as he stepped out into the rain behind her. "I'm just staying with her for now."_

_She stopped and looked back at him as the rain poured down on her. She didn't know why, but she believed him. But he still had just told her the most beautiful lie she had ever heard. He had made love to her, only to push her away and turn his back on her._

"_So you move out of the home we made together to come and live with a friend," she told him, not sure if she should believe him or not._

"_Damn it Lisa," he yelled. "What more do you want from me?"_

_She just stared at him as the tears started to flow again, blending in with the rain that was beating down on them. "I gave you everything I had worth giving; you have the best of me. You have the girls."_

"_I want you," she told him. "The girls, they need you. Why can't you see that?"_

_He just stared at her not being able to tell her what she wanted to hear. She looked down at the ground knowing that he wasn't going to come back to them. She looked at him one more time, then took the sliver, diamond ring that she had still been wearing off of her finger and dropped it on the ground._

_"I hate you," she told him._

_She got in her car and left, leaving him standing there in the rain._

_**** Go cry about it, why don't you?  
Go cry about it, why don't you?  
Oh, go cry about it  
My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room  
Don't you think we oughta know by now?  
Don't you think we should've learned somehow?****_

_She went to Wilson's and got the girls. He saw how shaken she was and how red and puffy her eyes were, and offered to let her and the girls stay over. She politley declined, got her girls and left. After she had tucked the girls in the bed she now shared with no one else, she got in the shower and turned it on, trying to wash away everything that was left of him that the rain hadn't already washed away. She could still feel his lips on her skin, his hands caressing every part of her that they could find...she could still feel him inside of her. She stood under the shower and cried some more, but soon there were no more tears left. She crawled between the two little bodies that were her only anchors to sanity and humanity at that moment. As she looked into their sleeping faces, she made up her mind that she would forget about him. She didn't have time to focus on what was lost, she had to make sure that they were happy and regained stability in their lives. They were the only thing that mattered; the best of him and the best of her.__  
__*********************_

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the front door unlatch, or see his tall figure walk through the front door.

* * *

*****Disclaimer: Song is Slow Dancing in a Burning Room by John Mayer**

**A/N: Thanks for the comments guys. I'm glad you are enjoying it.  
**


	31. Chapter 31

He walked in and saw her sitting on the sofa, her back turned to him. He noticed the still image of him and Hayden on the television screen and all of the papers scattered across the table in front of her. He also noticed the shiny object that lay in the palm of her hand and he felt himself grow a little angry. She was going through his personal things and that exposed a whole lot more of himself than he was ready to expose.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked her, making her turn around to face him.

She turned around quickly at the sound of his voice. Her mouth opened to speak, but no words came out. His anger subsided when he noticed she had been crying.

"I'm pretty sure that's not what you came here for," he said turning off the television and starting to picking up all of the papers on the table and throwing them back into the box.

She just watched him not really sure of what to say.

"You know there's a whole lot of really sick people at this one building that a lot of really really rich people like to invest their money into," he told her. "And a whole bunch of people you pimp out to help the sick people so you can get more money…I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure they're expecting their Madame to show up at that building today."

She had no meetings for that day so she wasn't really too worried about going in. Anyone else who needed her knew how to get in touch with her. 'No call, no show' wasn't usually her MO but some unexpected circumstances had come up, and she wanted to deal with them.

"Why do you still have all of this?" she asked him.

He picked up the box and looked at her for a little while, before walking out of the living room without a word. She got up and followed him. He put the box back in its place on the top shelf of the closet and proceeded to walk to his bedroom. Still, she followed.

"Did you hear me?" she asked him as he sat on the bed and began taking off his shoes.

"Let's see if you'll follow me into the shower," he told her, ignoring her question.

He stood up and tried to walk into the bathroom, but she stopped him by standing in front of the door and placing her hands on each side of the door frame.

"Why?" she asked holding up the letter and ring she still held in her hand.

He reached for it and she moved it away so he couldn't grab it.

"What are you going to do?" he asked motioning to the gold ring on her finger. "Wear them together and tell people they're a set. That you're fiancé is just so nice, he didn't know if you'd like gold or sil…"

"I'll give it back when you answer my question," she told him, interrupting his sarcastic rant.

Again he just stared at her, knowing that she wasn't going to let him out of giving an explanation that easy.

"Why did…"

"What do you want me to say?" he snapped at her. "You read the letter you have your answer."

She looked at him with hurt in her eyes, but this time she hurt for him.

"Greg, you're not your father," she told him.

"No, I'm his son," he told her. "The only thing I know about being a father or a husband I learned from him and well, you met him. You should be happy I left."

"Well I'm not,"she told him. "Your father was a cruel and evil man, but you could never be the type of…"

"You're happy now, let it go."

"That's funny," she told him, "because I remember last week you implied that I wasn't happy, because I wasn't having sex with Brian and that he was an asshole."

"Was I right?" he asked her. "About you not being happy, of course, we both know he's and asshole."

The way he looked at her made her think that if she gave the right answer, her relationship with Brian would be over, and the one with House would be resumed at that very moment. She opened her mouth to say yes, but caught herself before it came out. She just closed her mouth and looked down at the gold ring on her finger. It was more extravagant than the one attached to the letter and the diamond was larger, but she liked the silver one better. It reminded her of a time when everything in her life was perfect. Sure House couldn't, at the time afford to buy her as big of a diamond as Brian had brought her, because he proposed at a time when they were saving to buy a house and she was only an intern, and they both had student loans to pay back; they also had to provide for two small children. But it was his gift to her, a token of the love he had once and still maybe did feel for her. She was conflicted. Her heart told her to take the gold ring off and put the silver one on, but everything logical within her told her to just let it go; that she had been hurt too many times already by House and that she shouldn't take that chance again. She toyed with the gold ring as he hovered over her studying her actions. She slid the gold ring half way off her finger and held it there for a moment before sliding it back into its place. She didn't look up at him, she couldn't, the battle going on inside of her made it hard enough to think logically. He took that as her final answer, and removed the letter and the ring from her hand. He walked past her brushing against her slightly, before going into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. She stood in the same spot wondering if she had just made the right choice. After a minute, she decided it didn't matter because it was already made. She walked back into the living room, grabbed her keys and her purse and went back to the hospital.

House showered and got in the bed ready to catch up on his much needed sleep. He could only get in about five hours before his cell phone started to ring. He opened his eyes and grouchily reached for the telephone on the night stand.

"Hello," he said in a tone that let whoever was on the other end know he was upset about them waking him up.

The person on the other end didn't seem to mind though as they ignored his tone and began in an almost singsong voice, "Daddy," he heard Madison's voice come from the speaker, "can you pick us up from school and take us to ballet."

"I thought Logan was supposed to bring you guys?" he asked her, all the grouchiness and anger gone from his voice.

"He has detention," she told him. "He has to stay after school."

"Did you call your mother?" he asked her.

"No, we haven't called her, but…" he heard Madison start to say, before Hayden's voice interrupted her.

"Are you going to come and get us or not?" she said after obviously taking the phone from Madison.

"Well since you asked so nicely," he said throwing the covers off of him.

"Hurry up," she told him, "or we're going to be late. The Boy Genius, forgot to tell us he had detention today, so we've been waiting on him for a while and we have to go get Izzy from daycare, St. Charles Little Academy. The vampire queen is going to announce the soloist today and I don't want to be late. Our class starts at four."

With that she hung up the phone. House got out of the bed went to his closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and started to put them on. He grabbed the keys to his bike and walked out of the door only to return thirty seconds later to grab his car keys. He was lost in thought as he drove towards the school, but he found his thoughts to be foreign. He found himself smiling when he thought about the way Madison had made her own trademark of the word Daddy and how it varied with whatever mood she was in or what it was that she wanted. He thought about Hayden and her being the soloist in her ballet class. She hadn't quite warmed up to him the way Madison had, but he could tell that was just her stubbornness. She would always start to open up to him, and realize what she was doing then pull back. He didn't mind though, he knew she would come around in time, well he hoped anyway.

He pulled up to the daycare and parked. He walked through the door on the left side of the building and asked the woman for Isabella, and she directed him to the preschool side of the building. He walked over to the other side and when he opened the door he saw the curly headed cutie he was searching for. She was sitting down at one of the little tables with an irritated look on her face as she watched one of the other kids eat paste. The boy extended the bottle to her as if offering her some and she slapped his hand purposely knocking the bottle across the table. He threw a plastic toy at her and she reached back over and slapped the boy in his face. House smiled as one of the teachers went up to talk to her; she had definitely been spending a lot of time around his girls. He told the teacher at the front of the class who he was looking for and she checked a list, his name wasn't on it. She asked how he knew the child and he told her his name and told her to call Cuddy's cell phone so she could give her permission for him to take the girl. House was impatiently waiting on the woman to allow him to take Isabella with him when he felt something collide into his left leg, almost making him loose his balance. He was about to get upset, but that feeling subsided when he looked down to see a smiling Isabella looking up at him as she clung to his good leg.

"Pick me up," she said energetically, taking her arms from around his leg and holding them out to him.

He leaned over and quickly scooped the little girl up at her request. She giggled at the sudden new height she had gained. He smiled at the little girl and turned back to the woman who was still on the phone, now describing him to Cuddy.

"Just tell her that I'm the hot doctor that works for her that she tried to jump in the supply closet," he spoke loudly to the woman.

As he waited for her another odd concern invaded his thoughts. He suddenly wanted to know why Logan had gotten detention. It seemed like his sudden openness to his kids had allowed him to become more open towards the other two kids that he seemed to be spending an increasing amount of time around. He remembered Logan from when he and Cuddy had just moved into their new home. He had lived a few streets over with his parents, and his grandparents owned the house right down the street from the one they had just bought. He was around the same age as the girls, and his mother and Cuddy became close friends, so he would always come over to play with them. 'God I can't get attached to these kids,' he thought to himself. 'I can barely deal with the two that are mine.' The woman hung up the phone and turned to him. His comment must have convinced Cuddy, because the woman proceeded with the sign out procedures.

"Can I see you're ID?" she asked him. He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and showed it to her.

"Seriously Debra," he said reading her name tag. "I don't think anyone's trying to steal kids these days, you can't give these things away."

"It's for the children's safety. Sign right here," she told him, as she handed him a clipboard with a sign out sheet attached.

He put Isabella down and signed his name next to hers on the clipboard. He grabbed her bags, took her hand and proceeded to walk back to the parking lot with her. He was walking out of the door when his cell phone rang.

"Hello," he said, after flipping the phone open.

He held the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he unlocked the car door.

"Why are you picking up Isabella?" he heard Cuddy's voice come over the speaker.

"Because," he said opening the back door to allow Isabella to get in, "the kid with the driver's license has detention."

He threw the school bag and the little black duffle bag into the backseat of the car.

"Why didn't they call me?" she asked him.

"I think they just wanted to wake me from the little sleep that I was trying to get," he told her as he looked at Isabella, motioning her with his eyes to get into the back seat. The little girl just stared at him.

"Get in the car kid," he told her.

"Where's my seat?" she asked him with a confused look on her face. She wasn't used to riding without her booster seat.

"I don't have it," he told her.

"I can't ride without my seat," she said holding her hands out, as if explaining something to him that he had no clue about.

"What's Logan doing with detention?" Cuddy asked.

"Don't know," he said, before turning his attention back to Isabella, "I'll strap you in with the big seat belt."

"No," she said in a voice that threatened a tantrum. "I need my seat."

"The seat belt will keep you safe," he told her. "Now get in."

"No," she pouted, looking up at him with determined eyes.

"Get in the car," he said in a sterner voice.

"No," she said folding her arms, with an added "Hmph" behind it.

"Damn it kid, get in the car."

"No," she replied again, this time stomping her foot.

He sighed realizing the conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"Not funny," he said as he heard Cuddy laughing on the other end of the phone, having heard the entire conversation. He let a smile come to his face, realizing that the tension that stood between them that morning when she left was now gone. "She's not going to get in the car is she?"

"Ask one of the teachers for one of the booster seats," she told him as she tried to stop laughing. "Tell them I'll bring it back to them tomorrow."

"Okay," he told her as he closed the door to the still unoccupied backseat and grabbed the little girls hand to return to the classroom.

"I'll see you when I get home," she said before hanging up the phone. And that's when he realized how weird his situation had become. Here he was arguing with a four year old little girl, on his way to pick up Hayden and Madison and bring them all to ballet, and he was concerened with what Logan had done to get into detention. On top of that, Cuddy had been the first person he saw when he came home that morning and he had had somewhat of an argument with with her, and here she was just a few hours later, telling him she would see him when she got home. Although he knew it was probably a slip, he never thought that they would get to the point where it would even cross her mind enough for her to let it slip. He also realized something else and wondered if all the new concerns and priorities in his life that gave him something other then his pain to be preoccupied with had anything to do with him needing to take less vicodins than he previously had. He got the seat, put the girl in the car and went to pick up Hayden and Madison.

When he pulled up in front of the school, he saw Madison sitting on a table next to Hayden, who was talking to a boy. Madison noticed him as soon as he pulled up, but Hayden seemed to be preoccupied with the boy that was getting a little too touchy-feely for House's taste. He blew his horn making Hayden, the boy, and a few other kids look his way. Madison got in the backseat of the car as Hayden told the boy goodbye and ran over to the car. He just looked at her as she slid into the passenger seat beside him.

"What?" she asked after he didn't pull off right away, but it didn't take too long for her to figure out. "Oh my god, we were just holding hands."

"Stick to holding conversations," he told her, as he pulled the car away from the curb. "They're safer.

* * *

The sound of a few faint voices outside his car window woke him from his slumber in the front seat of his car. An hour had passed since he had parked outside of the building where the girls' ballet classes where being held. He saw one of the girls' friends along with three other girls and their mothers stop near his car and their conversation caught his ear.

"I thought sure Hayden would get to be the soloist this year," one of the mother's said and the others agreed.

"Well," one of the girls started, "Britney got it. That's the way it goes when your mother personally knows the instructor."

"Yeah, and Touissant hates your guts," the girl said referring to Hayden.

"It's not fair," one of the other mothers started. "You don't punish a child by taking away something they rightfully earned."

"It's not fair," the familiar girl said.

"You can call her tonight," her mother said wrapping her arm around her. "Let's hope she'll be feeling better by then."

The girls and their mothers said their goodbyes to each other before going their separate ways. He immediately looked back to the door of the building to see Hayden stalking over to the car as Madison pulled Isabella along trying to keep up with her. The girl opened the door, got in, leaned back in her seat and looked out of the window.

"Com'on Izzy," Madison said quietly as she hoisted the little girl up into the car seat, before going over to the other side and getting in herself.

"What happened?" House said already knowing the answer.

"Nothing," she snapped.

"Britney got the soloist part," Madison said quickly.

"Shut up," Hayden told the girl still looking out of the window.

"Well maybe you'll get it next year," he tried to reassure Hayden, but it didn't help.

"She should've gotten it this year, if not her then Ciara…" Madison started.

"Be quiet," Hayden said in a louder voice.

"Hayden everyone knows that Britney sucks and she didn't deser…" Madison tried again.

"Shut up Madison," Hayden yelled as she turned to face her sister in the back seat.

A tear rolled down her face as she turned back to look out of the window. It hurt him to see her like this. From what he could tell, it wasn't the fact that she didn't get the part, but that she knew she deserved it more than the person who did.

"Can we go home," she said quietly still facing the window. "Please?"

"Sure," he said, as he started the car up.

He drove slowly intentionally, hoping that would give Cuddy time to get home. It's not that he didn't want to be the one to comfort her, but he just didn't know how. He didn't want to say or do the wrong thing and make the situation worst.


	32. Chapter 32

House waited a while for Cuddy to get home, but she must have gotten caught up at work or in traffic, because she still wasn't there. He stood at the bottom of the stairs with Logan and Madison, while Isabella sat in the living room watching cartoons.

"So who's going to go up and talk to her?" he asked looking at the two teens.

"Not me," Madison told him. "You saw how she snapped at me in the car."

He turned to Logan.

"I'm not going up there," he said.

"Why not?" he asked confused.

"I'm afraid of her," the boy said, making Madison laugh.

"Coward."

"I don't exactly see you running up to get your head bitten off," he replied.

"She's bigger than I am," she told him, "you're bigger than her."

"Okay, I'll go talk to her," House said interrupting their conversation. He turned to Madison "What happened exactly?"

"Touissant gave the part to Britney," she began. "When Hayden went to ask her why her or Ciara didn't get it, she just told her that she wasn't good enough and to try again next year," she finished holding her head down.

"Not good enough?" Logan started. "I hate that wrinkled old bat."

House left the two of them to talk about their disdain for the ballet teacher as he slowly began his painful ascent up the stairs. He was not at all fond of stairs, but he was more concerned for Hayden than he was about the pain in his leg. He reached the top step and reached into his pocket to take out the bottle of vicodin. He tossed two into his mouth, swallowed and started down the hall. He knocked softly on the door that bared the soft green and blue wooden letters that spelled out her name. She didn't answer. He knocked once more and turned the knob, opening the door a little. There was some soft music coming from her stereo and she was in her full length mirror practicing her ballet. He stood there and watched her for a little while, knowing what was going through her mind, his heart hurting for her. He looked around in the green and yellow room with all of its accessories in blue, orange, and an assortment of other colors. She again had her name hung on the wall above a small desk where her laptop rested, but in larger letters. Around her name was a collage of photographs taped to the wall. Most of them showed a varied combination of her, Madison, Cuddy, Logan or Isabella, and the rest was of some random teenagers, he figured to be her friends from around the neighborhood and school. He also took notice of the guitar that was propped against the large bookshelf that almost overflowed with books from all genres of literature.

He watched her intently as she tried to perfect every move, most, many would already call perfected for a girl her age. He wondered where she had gotten this rebellious ambition from, him or Cuddy, and came to the conclusion that it could be both in this case; Cuddy's obsession to perfect everything to the best of her abilities and his need to prove people wrong when they dismissed his usually right conjectures. The only difference being her conjectures where about herself, his was about other people.

"What?" She asked not taking her eyes off of her image in the mirror.  
He hesitated before he began. "It was nothing you did or didn't do. You deserved that part. You have every right to be upset , and if you want to talk about it, I'm all ears."

"Thank you," she said sarcastically, still not taking her eyes off of the mirror, "but I've mastered the art of getting over rejection," she finished, momentarily looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. She quickly turned her attention back to her image still moving in the mirror. "I'm not good enough, so what."

His heart broke in half, as it became even clearer to him. Hayden viewed his leaving as him rejecting her. He silently cursed himself for being such an idiot and not being able to see the broader picture at the time he made his decision. He had put so much effort into protecting them from himself, he convinced himself that they would eventually get over it and be better off because he had left.

"Just because you didn't get the part, that doesn't mean you didn't deserve it," he told her.

"What do you know?" she said with a little malice in her tone.

"I know what I saw," he started. "I heard everyone talk about you, people who aren't your mother or me so they're opinion is pretty unbiased. I also heard about the ballet guy from that place that they take ballet really serious."

"He doesn't know me and neither do you," she told him in a cold tone. "There could be something wrong with me that makes me automatically not good enough. I'm over it. Now could you get out."

"No," he told her. "I want you to talk about it, at least say something."

"Something…now leave," she said finally taking the time to look at him.

He could see the hurt in her eyes and hear her emotions as she spoke.

"People can be idiots," he started. "They often think they are doing the right thing and end up screwing everything up."

"Fine, I'll leave then," she said, as the tears started to well in her eyes.

"It's not you," he said in a authoritative tone, letting her know she was going to hear what he had to say rather she liked it or not. He put his hand out in front of her to stop her from leaving.

She looked up at him, as the tears started to roll down her cheeks. He had foiled her plans to get away before she showed any real emotions.

"There's nothing wrong with you," he began in a softer tone. "I'm sorry."

The tears started to come harder as he pulled her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head.

"I didn't reject you," he told her. He waited until her tears subsided a little before he spoke again. "I thought things would be better for you. I thought you'd grow up to be like the little pod kids you see on all those really annoying movies."

She let out a small laugh through her tears. "Sorry to disappoint you."

"No," he said. "I'm proud that you rebel against, and drive every authority figure you come across crazy, including your mother. I'd doubt you were my kids if you didn't."

Hayden laughed again. "You so have the hots for her."  
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Okay I'll talk to you later," Cuddy said getting out of her black Mercedes GL550. "I love you too," she added before flipping the phone close.

She had just gotten off of the phone with Brian after finally answering his call. She hadn't talked to him since they had gotten into it about Izzy and Logan always being around. He wouldn't stop calling and that was like his tenth time calling in two hours so she finally decided to answer. He had apologized and told her he would be back in town next Tuesday, and that he wanted to take her somewhere on vacation. She had told him that she would like to see him, but couldn't take time off from work so suddenly for a vacation. She knew that Brian was going to be staying at her house when he got back, and wondered how the situation would play out with House coming over almost every night he didn't spend at the hospital. A smile came to her face at just the thought of him. Knowing that he still thought about them while he was gone did something for her. She didn't know why, because she would have claimed that she had gotten over it a long time ago, and it didn't matter. 'But it does matter,' she sighed as she walked through the front door.

She walked into the living room to find Madison and Logan playing guitar hero.

"Did Hayden get the part?" she asked.

"No," Madison said not turning away from the television.

"What?" she asked surprised. "Who got it?"

"Britney," the girl replied, eyes still fixated on the television, determined not to miss a note on the guitar.

"Where's Hayden?"she asked.

"Right here," Hayden replied as she made her way down the stairs, with House following behind her slowly gripping his cane and the railing tightly for extra support.

"Are you okay?" she asked the girl, pulling her into her arms.

"I'm fine," the girl said.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I know how bad you wanted this.

"Yes I'm sure," she said. "It's not like the world ended."

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about," Logan said from the living room, happy to see that Hayden had gotten over not getting the part. "Rock on Hayden."

"Why did you have detention?" Cuddy asked walking back into the living room.

"Who me?" the boy asked, caught off guard as one of the drum sticks fell out of his hand. He had forgotten that he was supposed to be keeping his presence low key for the time being.

"Yes you," she replied.

"A funny thing happened," he said, pausing the game, as he got up from the drum set. "I kinda led the whole class to get up and walk out in the middle of class."

"How did you 'kinda' do that?" she asked him.

"We were discussing conformity and non conformity in one of my classes, and we got on the subject of how school is basically an institution to force everyone into conformation. Everybody got kinda excited, and I may or may not have gotten up and yelled Viva La Resistance, causing everybody to get up and walk out."

"That's it?" House asked.

"What do you mean that's it?" Cuddy asked.

"Well he can't be held responsible for a whole bunch of other kids getting up and walking out of class, just because he voiced his opinion," he replied.

"Dude, that's what I said," the boy told him. "Still got detention though."

"Don't take his side," Cuddy said turning her attention to House.

"If I got in trouble for every time I voiced my opinion at work I'd…" House started again, then paused"…wait a minute I do get into trouble every time I voice my opinion at work. Cuddy, are you working for the man?"

She rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn't refute his argument. It really wasn't Logan's fault that everyone got up and walked out. If the teacher couldn't control the children, he definitely could not be expected to be able to.

"I'm going to let you off easy this time," she told him. "Did you go to see your grandmother today?"

"Yeah, she seems to be getting better," he told her. "But she'll have to go to dialysis once a week."

"Where's your sister?" Cuddy asked him.

"I think I saw her asleep in the hall," he said before turning to go back into the living room and play the game.

Cuddy walked down the hall and sure enough there was the little girl asleep on the floor, with the black puppy curled up next to her, as if keeping watch over here.

"Does anyone watch this child when I'm not here," she mumbled to no one in particular. She picked up the little girl from the floor and the dog stood and looked up at her. "Thank you Trouble," she told him. "You seem to be the best babysitter in the house."

"My god Cuddy," House said going through the cell phone she had left on the table in the foyer, "are you sure this guy isn't a stalker. He's called you like twenty four times today."

"Stop looking through my phone," she said snatching it away from him, and proceeded to take Isabella into her bedroom.

"I guess that's what happens when you don't put out," he told her as he watched her lay the little girl in the bed. She shot him an evil glare.

"Way to keep him tied to a string," he continued.

"Shut up House," she told him as she pulled her blouse over her head in order to put on the less formal one she had just pulled from her drawer.

Exposing the black laced bra beneath the shirt to him, definitely granted her wish. He tilted his head to the side as he stared at the newly exposed skin of the top of her breast that the bra did not cover. He wondered if that was the bra that went with the black panties he found while going through her drawers that one night. It looked like he was about to find out soon, as she unzipped her skirt. She looked up at the smile that had spread across his face and had to stop a smile from coming to her face.

"I'm getting too comfortable with you being here," she said grabbing the yoga pants and heading into the bathroom to change into them.

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She ended up spending most of the night on her laptop getting ready for a couple of meetings she had the next day. It shouldn't have taken her that long, since she had everything just about ready, but she kept getting carried away in the thoughts of what had happened earlier that day. Hearing House in the living room playing guitar hero with the kids and knowing that he was probably going to be staying the night while Brian was out of town also made her rethink her decision to stay with Brian. It was hard for her to figure Brian into the equation when everything around her told her that the household was complete. She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and finally finished up on the computer.

"Okay guys," she said walking into the living room, "it's getting late. Go do your homework, take your baths, and go to bed."

"One more song," Madison pleaded.

"No, now," she told them. "It's already nine, and you've been playing that game since you got home."

"Sweet," House said taunting the kids as they left the room. "Now I don't have to take turns."

He played in the room alone by himself for about fifteen minutes, while Cuddy gave Isabella her girl had awakened from her nap a little late, but was about ready to fall back to sleep since it was an hour past her bed time. His alone time with the game was soon interrupted when Cuddy walked back into the room.

"I swear, if I described you to someone they would think you are a twelve year old kid," she told him.

"You are just jealous because I got mad skills," he told her, never taking his eyes off of the television.

"Start it over," she told him.

"You wanna play?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah, but I want the guitar," she told him.

"Sorry, I called dibs."

"My game, my rules," she said stepping up to him and putting her hand on the guitar.

"No fair," he told her as she looked up at him seductively. "You can't use your hotness to get what you want."

"Apparently I can," she told him as he took the guitar strap from around him and handed it to her. "It's good to know you think I'm hot."

"Those words didn't come out of my mouth," he told her.

"Okay, sure," she laughed knowing he wasn't going to admit to anything.

They ended up playing longer than he had expected and fell asleep on the sofa. The sound of her cell phone ringing woke her up the next morning. She caught it right before it vibrated off of the coffee table. She was about to answer it, but the person hung up. Too tired the notice the time, she laid back down on the slowly rising and falling chest that laid beneath her. It was then she realized the position they had been sleeping in. She was lying completely on top of House, her legs straddling his left leg as his right one carefully stretched out the length of the sofa. She smiled at the comfort of the warmth that his body generated. Finally having an answer to the question that had plagued her for years, made it easier to be around him. Especially since she knows that he did it because he thought it was best thing for them, although she still knew he couldn't have been more wrong. She was about to doze off to sleep again, when her phone rang again. This time she caught it before they hung up.

"Hello," she groaned into the receiver.

"I thought you said you wanted to go over something with me before the board meeting this morning," Wilson's voice came over the speaker.

"I do," she said propping her self up on House's chest, "what time is it?"

"Almost eight o'clock," he said.

She jumped up as soon as she heard eight, startling House into a sitting position.

"What the hell happened?" he asked confused and dazed.

"I'm going to be late for work," she told him as she raced out of the room.

"I will too," he yelled behind her, as he rolled over on the sofa prepared to go back to sleep, "could you let my boss know."

* * *

**A/N: Clearly someone was reading my mind or my story, but anyway, hope ya'll enjoy!!!**


	33. Chapter 33

Cuddy sat in an emergency board meeting listening to the people around her discuss the non-emergency that was the cause of the emergency board meeting. She couldn't understand why this couldn't wait until the next board meeting. They had one every month and had only had one the week before, although she was late for that one too, thanks to guitar hero, there really wasn't a pressing issue to be discussed then. It was Friday and she was ready to go home for the weekend, to get away from neurotic narcissists that would even put her neuroticism to shame. She was staring at the man in front of her, trying to stay focused on what he was saying when she caught a blur of blonde curls in her peripherals. She continued to stare at the door, knowing that Isabella was somewhere in the hospital since the kids where out of school for spring break, but they were supposed to be watching her. Sure enough she saw the little girl in the white shirt with red short sleeves, and blue jean overalls with the little red chuck taylors run by the door again. She made a mental note to herself to never let House dress the little girl again, no matter how late she was going to be for work. She took a deep breath trying to let out her frustration, before she stood up.

"Could you excuse me," she said holding up her pager as if it had gone off. "There's been an emergency I have to tend to. Dr. Wilson," she said turning to him, "can you update me on everything from the rest of the meeting?"

"Sure," he said confused, not having heard the pager going off.

Cuddy walked to the door and before she could get out of the door of the conference room good, the little girl ran towards her again. She caught her arm as the girl tried to run past her and took her from in front of the glass doors so the other board members couldn't see her.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked the little girl. "Why aren't Hayden and Logan watching you?"

"They yelled at me becawse I kept messing up their game," she said.

"Where are they now?"

"Still playing the game," the little girl said with a huge smile on her face.

"Com'on," Cuddy said holding her hand as she walked towards the doctor's lounge.

She opened the door and was about to start yelling when she saw an unexpected face sitting behind the drum set.

"Dr. Chase, what are you doing in here?" she asked him.

"Uhmm," he stuttered a little bit, "I'm on my lunch break." He told her.

Before she could say anything Kutner came through the door.

"Com'on Chase get up," he told him. "It's my tu-," he stopped, noticing Cuddy standing in the room staring at him.

"Nevermind," he said before turning to walk back out the door.

"Why aren't you watching Isabella?" she asked the other three kids in the room.

"We were watching her," Hayden said.

"Clearly you weren't," she told them.

"She was sitting at the table coloring," Madison told her. "She must've gotten up and left."

"You think?" was Cuddy's reply.

"Well my lunch break is over," Chase said getting up to leave. "Is the game going to be-"

"No," she said answering his question before he could finish.

"Okay," he said walking out of the room.

"I had to leave out of a meeting because she was running up and down the halls of the hospital," she told them.

"Then why are you yelling at us and not her?" Hayden asked.

"Because she just turned four," she told them. "I expect that of her, that's why you were supposed to be watching her. "

They just stared at her, unfazed by her argument. Their indifference made her even more mad. "Unplug the game and put it away," she told them, turning to leave the room.

"Are we in trouble?" Logan yelled behind her as she left the room.

She didn't even bother answering him as she headed down the hall to House's office. She opened the door and covered Isabella's eyes when she saw the computer screen.

"House," she said disgusted by the images on the screen.

"What?" he asked innocently. "It's just porn."

"Wat's porn?" Isabella asked, with Cuddy's hands still over her eyes.

"It's nothing," Cuddy quickly replied. "Turn it off."

"Where do you get off just barging into other people's office anyway," he told her. "You should've knocked."

"Yeah, and you should be in the clinic," she told him. "Why did you bring that game here?"

"Because I didn't think the people at your house would be interested in playing today, you know, since no one would be there."

"So it's better for me to have a hospital full of doctos that are scheduling their lunch breaks around who's turn it is to play guitar hero, than patients?" she asked him sarcastically.

"Stress reliever," he said stretching his eyes.

She was about to answer him when her pager started to go off. "I have to go," she told him. "Keep an eye on her, and the other three in the doctor's lounge."

"If I do can I go home early?" he asked as she opened the door to leave.

"Only if you take them with you," she told him.

He studied the little girl as she climbed onto the chair in front of his desk. She sat down and looked over at him and started giggling. He started to pack up his things, deciding that he would rather spend the rest of the day at home with the four kids rather than at the hospital with patients. He threw the back pack across his shoulder, grabbed his cane with his right hand and the little girl's hand in his left. He went to the lounge to get the three teens and they headed to his apartment.

* * *

He had assumed his usual place on the sofa in front of the television waiting for Cuddy to get off from work. It was one thing being around them while having her to keep them in line, it was another to have to keep them in line himself, especially the little one.

"Who's this?" Madison asked sitting on the sofa next to him.

She had a bunch of pictures in her hand and handed him one of him and his mother when he was a little younger than her.

"Me," he told her.

"Well I know that," she said sarcastically. "Is this your Mom?" she asked pointing to the lady in the picture.

"Yup," he told her.

The girl just stared at the picture for a moment before speaking again.

"She looks like a nice lady. How come I never met her?" she asked.

"You did," he started, "you just don't remember. You were a baby."

"Do you ever visit her?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because," he told her, not really having a reason that he was willing to share with her, "I never have the time."

"I want to meet her again," she said. "I would be able to remember this time."

House just looked at the girl, knowing what was coming next.

"Can you take us to visit her?"

"Take us to visit who?" Hayden asked walking into the living room with Logan right behind her eating a bag of chips.

"His mom," Madison said taking the picture away from him and handing it to her.

"Where does she live?" Hayden asked.

"New Haven," he replied dryly.

"So can we go daddy, please?" Madison asked giving him puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah," Hayden said. "We can go this weekend. It's not like we're doing anything else."

"And we can actually leave town for our spring break, instead of being stuck here like a bunch of losers," Logan added. "I mean that's if I'm invited of course," he said looking at House.

"So can we go?" Madison tried once more.

"I don't know," he started, and was cut off by Hayden.

"Why? Do you have plans this weekend?" Hayden asked knowing his routine well enough now to know he didn't.

"No," he said.

"Well why can't we go?" He looked around the room and all eyes were on him.

* * *

"Here," House said sitting the slightly larger black dog down on Wilson's desk.

"Don't put him on top of my papers," Wilson said taking him and putting him on the floor. "And thanks, but I already had a dog."

"I know," House started. "He destroyed one of my canes and ate half of my bottle of vicodin. So now I'm returning the favor."

"House seriously, I don't want your dog," Wilson told him.

"It's just for this weekend," House said annoyed. "Cuddy wouldn't want to keep it if she had to feed it and scoop its poop."

"Where is Madison and Hayden going to be this weekend?"

"With me," he told him. "We're going on a little trip out of town."  
Wilson laughed.

"What's so funny?" House asked confused.

"You are going to take two teenage girls on a trip out of town," Wilson said. "How do you expect to manage that?"

"Uh, two teenage girls, a teenage boy and a four year old, and I can manage," House told him, offended a little.

"Oh, please," Wilson told him. "You couldn't even manage them when they were one and three years old."

House just stared at him, not sure of what he was talking about. Wilson gave in and started explaining.

"Remember when Cuddy left town to attend her aunt's funeral and left you with them," Wilson began. "You called me and told me to come over quick; that it was an emergency. When I got there the girls where covered in finger paint. You had Madison tucked under one arm, you were holding Hayden upside down, by one of her ankles, and you were yelling at me to get the papers from the purple one."

House cringed at the memory, but shrugged it off, not letting Wilson know it had gotten to him.

"I don't see where you're going with this story," he told Wilson, before turning to walk out of the office.

Wilson just shrugged his shoulders. "Good luck," he yelled behind him.

House made his way down to Cuddy's office. At least he was going to his mother's house, he had back up if needed. He burst into Cuddy's office, gracefully as usual.

"Need to borrow the Benzo," he said walking up to her desk.

"No," she told him. "You're not getting my car."

"Why not?" he asked in a whiney voice.

"Why do you need it?" she asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Uh, because it's bigger and more comfortable for five people going on a three hour drive, duh," he told her in an obvious tone. "Well more like four and a half people, but that's not the point."

"Who might these four and a half people be and where are they going in my car?" she asked already knowing the answer, to her first question.

He just stared at her not really wanting to tell her, but decided he would have to since she wouldn't let the girls go if he didn't. He also really wanted her car.

"You don't know them," he joked. "New Haven," he added quietly.

"New Haven," she asked confused. "What's in New…" she cut herself off and looked at him. He looked away.

"House, are you going to visit your mother?" she asked him.

"No," he said sarcastically. "I'm going because they have great weather this time of year. It's really different from here."

She smiled at him knowingly.

"What?" he asked annoyed. She didn't say anything.

"So can I borrow your car or not?" he asked wanting to get off of the subject of his mother.

"What's up?" Hayden said barging into the office just as he had. "Is she letting you borrow the car?"

"I don't know?" he said. They both looked back at Cuddy.

"I don't know," she said hesitantly. "You're taking all of them with you?"

"Well they're all in the car," he said. "Unless you want to kick some of them out, but I have to tell you, they really have their heart's set on it," he finished sarcastically.

She stared at him for a while. "I don't trust you with them," she said and immediately saw the hurt on his face. She quickly corrected herself. "No, not like that…I mean…House you aren't really the responsible type."

"Well gee, thanks" he said sarcastically. "With compliments like that I can see why your employee retention rate is so high?"

"I trust you with the kids...," she said still not being able to express what she was trying to say. "I just…it's three teenagers and a four year old. With you, it's like adding another teenager, only he's legal and can physically pass for a responsible adult."

"Well why don't you just come with us?" Hayden asked her, getting anxious to leave already. "You said you didn't have any plans for this weekend."

House just looked at her and stretched his eyes, letting her know the offer was good if she wanted to.

"I don't th…" she was cut off by Hayden.

"Aww com'on Mom, what are you going to do?" the girl started again. "Sit home all weekend and wait on Brian to call. Don't be such a lame."

"Ohhho snap," House said. "And here I was thinking you where the one that had him whipped."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"I'll think about it," she said.

"There's no time to think," the girl said putting her hands on her desk. "We are about to leave, and I am tired of being here. All of my friends have already left town for break and I will loose my mind if I don't get out soon."

"Yeah," House said looking at his watch, "my mother is expecting us and I kinda wanted to make it there before night fall, and if you're coming you still have to go home and pack."

"I can't leave work this early," she told him. "It's only one thirty."

"So that's a no?" House questioned.

"Com'on Mom," Hayden said not giving her a chance to answer. "Please come with us. You said you would take us somewhere this weekend because you didn't have any work to do, so you can leave early. For god sakes you're playing solitaire," she said turning to the computer screen.

Cuddy just stared between the two of them and sighed. "Alright," she finally said. "Just let me get my things and tell Julia that I'm leaving for the day."

* * *

After Cuddy went home and changed into some comfortable traveling clothes, packed her bag and repacked Isabella's bag to include some clothes that seemed like they were for a little girl, she went outside to join the impatient people waiting for her in her car. 'Leave it to House to decide to go on a trip, five minutes before he actually leaves,' she thought to herself.

"I'm driving," she said after she saw House sitting in the driver's seat.

"I said I'm trying to make it there by night fall," he told her. "I've seen you drive, Miss. Daisy."

"No you are not dri…" she was cut off when he closed the car door in her face.

He locked all of the doors, then reached over and unlocked the passenger side.

"Other side," he said through the glass pointing to the passenger side.

She really wasn't in the mood for fighting with him, nor was she really in the mood for driving. She just didn't want him driving. She had seen how recklessly he drove, but he hadn't had an accident yet. She was also kind of tired and figured that his driving alert was better than her driving tiredly; not having to drive would also allow her to get some sleep on the way there. She walked around and got in the passenger seat and put on her seat belt. She then looked in the back seat to see Isabella in her car seat coloring and the rest of the vehicles occupants playing their Nintendo DSI's. She then looked over at House who was staring at her the whole time.

"Ready," he said in a sarcastically, eager tone. "Let's see how fast this baby can go."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guy's like. Next chapter will be part road trip...and who doesn't love those.**


	34. Chapter 34

It had only been about twenty minutes since they had left the drive way before the first request came.

"Can we stop and get something to eat?" Logan asked from the second row. "I'm starved."

"Yeah, I'm kinda hungry too," Madison chimed in.

"Are you kidding me?" House said out done, which was saying a lot. "We just left a refrigerator full of food."

"I wasn't hungry when we left," the boy said.

"You're always hungry," House told him.

"Just pull over and let them get something," Cuddy told him. "It won't kill you to be nice."

"How do you know?" he asked getting over to get off at the approaching exit.

"Because I've seen you be nice and you're still here," she told him.

After spending the next fifteen minutes trying to figure out where to eat and deciding what to order, they got back on the interstate, now with a load of fast food.

"That takes care of food," House said. "So make that count, because we are not stopping again."

Of course that plan lasted for all of ten minutes, and was broken by the smallest of them all.

"I gotsa go potty," Isabella's voice sounded throughout the car.

Cuddy started laughing at the look on House's face.

"You better hold it kid," he told her.

"I can't hold it," the little girl retorted in an offended tone.

"How do you know? You haven't tried."

"I can't," she said picking up the stuffed animal on the seat next to her and throwing it at the back of his head. It missed and flew over his shoulder and ended up landing in his lap.

"You better," he started. "Unless the next couple of hours for you are going to be pretty cold."

The girl started throwing a tantrum.

"No House," Cuddy again chimed in. "You were the one that decided to go on this trip now deal with the consequences. Pull over so I can take her to the bathroom."

"Never again," he mumbled to himself as he exited off of the highway again.

He tried to pull into a gas station, but Cuddy told him it was too dirty, which he replied to with an, "Are you serious?"

"You have three minutes," he told them as they got out of the car at the restaurant.

"This is my car," she told him as she got out of the car. She got Isabella from the second row and proceeded to go inside of the restaurant.

When Cuddy returned to the car, she realized that the girls had brought their RENT soundtrack along with them, and the look on House's face was priceless as they sang along to La Vie Boheme. This time when he got back on the highway, he drove faster than he had before, determined to get out of the car before his head exploded, but again that plan was foiled.

"Can we stop to the store so I can get a car charger?" Hayden asked. "I forgot mine home."

"No," he told her.

"But my cell phone just died," she whined. "I need to charge it."

"No. You don't _need_ to charge it," he told her.

She took a color from Isabella's coloring box and opened the tablet she had on her lap and started writing. She lowered the window a little and stuck the paper out. A little while later, House noticed people looking at him funny in the cars that passed. He looked back and saw her with the paper hanging out of the window. He managed to snatch it away from her and sure enough in red crayon were the words…'Please call 911…he's holding me hostage.'

"Hayden why would you do that?" Cuddy asked trying to hold back her laugh as she read the paper.

"We are not stopping," he told her one last time.

"Everyone else got to stop to get what they wanted and the minute I ask for something that I actually need you say no. I knew I shouldn't have never come on this stu..." she started on a high pitched rant.

"Okay, okay," he said knowing the girl wasn't going to stop until she got her way, something he cursed himself for at that moment, knowing she inherited the trait from him. He got off at the next exit.

"Hurry up and get your charger and come out," he started, but the three teens ignored him and they all climbed out of the back seats.  
Hayden opened his door and held out her hand to him.

"What?" he asked.

"I need some money," she told him in a obvious tone. "Unless you want me to lift it."

He pulled out his wallet and gave her twenty bucks as Cuddy climbed out of the passenger seat.

"Not you too," he said.

"I'm going to take her to the bathroom," she said opening the back door of the car and taking Isabella from her seat.

Although she thought it was funny, she was starting to feel sorry for House. She knew how hard it must have been for him to keep calm under these circumstances. This was still new to him, whereas she had expected this from the moment she found out about the trip. She knew the little girl would be asking to go again after drinking a soda and she decided she would be nice and save him a stop. Soon they were all back in the car, and he hesitantly got back on the highway, for fear he would be getting off again soon.

After about twenty more minutes of driving Madison spoke up again. "Are we almost there?"

"Seriously? We're only like fourty minutes away from home," he exaggerated. "We've gotten off at just about every exit and you think we're almost there."

"Well, don't have a cow Daddy," the girl said in a sarcastic, but serious tone. "It was a simple yes or no question. You should've let Mom drive and we'd be there by now."

House bit his tongue as Cuddy started into laughter again at the expression on his face. "I told you so," she added just to add salt to the wound. He just looked at her.

A few hours later, after numerous potty breaks, another food break, more fighting and arguments, Cuddy pulled up into House's mother's drive way. They had switched drivers halfway there because House wanted to join in on the Nintendo DSI Wi-fi competition going on in the car. When she turned the car off everyone got out except for House.

"Are you coming?" Cuddy asked him opening the passenger door. "She is your mother, it would be kinda weird for us to go in without you."

He looked at her a while before getting out of the car. She let him walk before her trying to decide if she made the right decision to go with him. She knew this was going to be a stressful trip for him, coming back home, but at least he didn't have to deal with his father. He probably wouldn't have come if he had to deal with him, no, he wouldn't have come back. She sighed and told herself that she would try to have a good time, although, she knew she was going to have to be the one to deal with House and his 'daddy issues' just as Wilson had to when she drugged him and he drove him to the funeral. Before they could make it all the way to the front door, Blythe House opened the screened door with a surprised look on her face.

"Oh my god," she said grabbing the first person she could get her hands on, which happened to be Madison, and pulling her into a hug after kissing her cheek. She pulled back placing both of her hands on the girl's shoulders and studying her face. "Madison?" she questioned.

"Yup," the girl said with a huge smile on her face.

She pulled the girl back into a hug and told her how much she had grown and how happy she was to see her. Cuddy and House stood in the back as she did the same with Hayden and then hugged the two kids who she didn't even know, all with a smile on her face; Isabella being ecstatic that she finally seemed to have found someone that shared her same enthusiasm for life. Cuddy had a smile on her face while House scowled studying the home in which he had lived most of his a lot of his miserable childhood.

"You know you should really come visit your mother more," Cuddy whispered to him from their position at the back of the line for free hugs. "She's a really sweet woman and she loves you, unconditionally. She also seems like she would like the company."

"Yeah, I'll have to ask my slave driver…" he started, but was cut off by his mother's arms wrapping around Cuddy.

"Lisa," the woman said pulling back from the hug, but still holding on to Cuddy's hands. "It's so nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too, Blythe" she replied. The whole time her and House were together she had a great relationship with his mother, well as great as it could be. She had never really gotten to know the woman as well as she would have liked to, due to House's strained relationship with his father.

"You look great," the woman said, then gasped when she noticed the ring on her finger. She looked at House as a huge smile came to her face.

Cuddy was about to speak to correct her, but House jumped in.

"In her dreams," he said making Cuddy shoot him a hard glare.  
The woman's smile fell in confusion.

"I'm engaged to someone," Cuddy explained. "His name's Brian."

"Oh so that's his name," House said, making her shoot him another glare.

"Aww," Blythe started, "that's too bad."  
She had secretly been hoping that House would come to his senses and he and Cuddy would get back together. She always did like her and thought that she was good for him. She was happy for the both of them when she found out they were dating, and had apologized to her numerous times for the way House's father had behaved on their one visit.

House smiled at the woman's comment and the kids giggled while Cuddy just looked shocked at the woman's boldness.

"It's your fault," she said now turning to House. "I told you not to let her go." She pulled him into a hug and when she pulled back, she held both her hands to the sides of his face. "It's so good to see you Gregory," she started again with a loving smile on her face. "You should come by more often. Although I wish you would have called. That would have given me a chance to get the rooms ready and bake something for the kids."

Cuddy hit him in the chest with the back of her hand. "I thought you told me she was expecting us."

"First of all, ouch," he said rubbing the spot where she had hit him. He started again. "I was supposed to call," he said, then pointed to Isabella, "but I forgot after the little demon spilled a glass of milk all over the kitchen table and floor."

"It was an axident," she said as if she couldn't believe that he had just outed her.

"Aww Gregory, don't call her that," his mother said taking Isabella out of Logan's arms. "Aren't you just the cutest little thing. Is she yours, Lisa?"

"No," Cuddy told her. "She and her brother are staying with me until their grandmother gets out of the hospital."

"Would you like some cookies?"the woman asked. The little girl smiled and nodded her head. "Com'on," Blythe said to the rest of the kids as she began to walk towards the kitchen.

"You know we can stay at a hotel if you…" House tried, but she cut him off.

"Don't be silly. There's enough room for you all right here," she said before disappearing into the kitchen.

"I can't believe you," Cuddy said once they were alone. "You drove all the way here, with plans on staying at a hotel. Don't you know how offensive that would be to your mother?"

"So now all of a sudden, you're the family expert," he told her. "I don't remember you actually taking time off to go see your parents."

"That's different," she told him. "My parents are control freaks who still despise my choice of lifestyle. Your mother wants you to visit and you have no reason not to now, so try not to be an ass for just this weekend."

She walked away from him and went to join the others in the kitchen. He stayed in the living room looking over the many pictures that were hanging on the walls. He came to one of him and his father that his mother had begged them to take. The only reason his father agreed was to save face with the neighbors and so anyone who stopped by could see it and think that he was the perfect father. He neither his father seemed very happy in the picture. He looked around and saw a few more pictures of his father and a few more pictures of him and almost regretted coming. He had to remind himself of why he had come in the first place. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see his mother standing there. She gave him a look that told him she understood before she started speaking.

"How long do you all plan on staying?" she asked him.

"Until Sunday, I guess," he told her. "If I can make it that long."

"Well I hope you can," she told him. "I would really like for you to stay the entire weekend. Now com'on and help me get the guest room ready. You and Lisa can have your old room. The girls can sleep in the guest room and Logan can have the sofa."

"Mom, she's engaged," he told her knowing what she was trying to do.

"I know, but if I remember correctly she was engaged once before and never got married," she said glancing back at him. "It's not too late."

He smiled to himself. Clearly his mother did not know about the evolution of his and Cuddy's relationship. After he had helped his mother change the bedding in his room and the guest room, they went back into the kitchen.

"Where are the kids?" Blythe asked when she saw that Cuddy and Isabella were the only two left in the kitchen.

"They went to the car to get the bags," she told her.

"I can't believe how much those girls have grown," she said another smile coming to her face. She then looked at Cuddy and House. "If you are engaged to someone else, how did you two end up coming here together?"

"She has to stalk me wherever I go," House said without missing a beat.

"No," Cuddy corrected. "It's more like I have to chaperone him wherever he goes."

"You didn't have to come you know," he told her. "You could've made Wilson come along."

"Wilson had the last trip. It was my turn."

"You know you two really should've stayed together," she told them, laughing at their exchange. "You compliment each other very well."

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed...and don't forget to comment ;)**


	35. Chapter 35

The rest of the evening went along fine with everyone sitting around talking and watching television, and Blythe trying to feed them everything she could find that was edible. She didn't have too many sweets and promised the kids that she would go to the store the next day and bake them all kinds of sweets from scratch. It was now getting late and Cuddy had just tucked Isabella in between Madison and Hayden. She still couldn't believe that she had _lucked_ up into sharing a bed with House. Sure they usually ended up sleeping next to each other anyway when he slept over at her house, but the weirdness behind Blythe rooming them together with her known ulterior motives made it a little uncomfortable. When she walked into the room she saw him lying down on his back looking up at the ceiling, with only the light from the lamp on one of the nightstands lighting the room. He didn't seem to notice her when she walked in. She actually felt kind of sorry for him. He had told her some of the things that had gone on between him and his father when he lived there, and she could only imagine what it must have been like to come back to the house.

She undid her robe and threw it on the chair next to the bed. She then pulled back the covers and climbed in next to him. He must've been waiting on a distraction from his thoughts, because as soon as her head hit the pillow she felt his arm snake around her waist.

"Stay on your side House," she told him, as she pushed him away and stuffed some pillows between them.

"It's my bed," he told her. "The whole thing is my side."

"Not tonight it isn't."

"Your sides bigger than mine," he told her.

"Oh grow up," she said turning over to face him.

"Just because you have a gigantic tuckus doesn't mean you get to take up two thirds of the bed," he told her. "If I move just a little bit I'll fall off."

A smile spread across her face at the thought. He was about to answer her when her phone starting ringing. The unique ringtone instantly caught both of their ears and they both knew who it was. They just looked at each other; concern showing on her face and a smile now spread across his. Her phone was on the night stand on his side of the bed. He quickly turned over to grab the phone, but she jumped up too.

"House no!" she said climbing over him, trying to grab the phone off of the nightstand first.

He had the phone in his hand, but didn't give much fight against her snatching it from him when he realized the position the scramble for the phone had put them in.

"Hello?" she said quickly flipping the phone open. She looked down at him, at the huge smile on his face, which made her realize she was straddling him.

"Hey Brian," she said rolling her eyes at him. She was about to raise her left leg to get off of him and go back to her side of the bed, but he had other plans.

He put his hands on her hips keeping her from moving off of him. He then sat up so that they were face to face…well face to cleavage anyway. She looked down at him and started blushing as a smile came to her face; he was completely indulging in the view that the shirt that she wore afforded him. She had on a cream colored shirt with a low V-cut neck line. She wouldn't have been smiling if she knew that House was thinking that would be the perfect time to see if he still knew the parts of her body as well as he used to.

"Yeah," she started on the phone again, with House still holding her in place. She didn't want to struggle with him because Brian would hear. "I think something's wrong with the home phone," she lied. He looked at her with a 'you-are-such-a-liar look' and she returned it with a 'shut-up' look. She kept her eyes on him as she continued her conversation. He kept his hands on her hips keeping her right where he wanted her. He smiled up at her as his hands started to slowly snake up her shirt, bring the shirt up as they travelled further up, exposing her taut stomach.

'Stop,' she mouthed pulling one of his hands away from her shirt. But his other hand kept moving upwards exposing the body part he was searching for.

He started to lean her backwards as he started to lean forward bring his face closer to her abdomen. He looked up at her one more time and she had a serious look on her face. 'House, don't,' she mouthed to him all the while trying to keep up her act on the phone with Brian. He gave her a 'yeah-right' look and placed both of his hands on her back supporting her at the angle he wanted. He brought his mouth right in front of her belly button and stuck his tongue out letting it caress the soft flesh around it. A burst of laughter escaped from her throat.

"Huh?" she said trying to compose herself enough to continue the conversation. "Oh nothing, I'm watching a movie on TV."

"Well it must be funny," Brian said.

"Yeah, it is," she said still trying to control her laughter, as House's tongue maneuvered around her belly button.

"You know I really miss you," he told her. "I wish I could be with you right now."

"I know," she said trying to show the sincerity in her voice. "I really mi…" the rest of her statement was interrupted by an even heartier laugh than the first, as House dipped his tongue into her navel. "I really miss you too," she tried again, this time trying to hold back a snort.

House sat up content with remembering one of her most profound ticklish places and knowing exactly how to ignite it. She still had a smile on her face from the sensation with an 'I'm going to kill you' look mixed in with it. It didn't bother him, because he immediately started to move on to his next checkpoint. He leaned forward, bringing his mouth towards her neck, but she put her hand up to block him. He looked up at her and she mouth 'You better not,' with a little concern in her eyes. He of course ignored her and pushed her hand down to unblock the path to her neck. He again snaked his tongue out, this time it traced over her collar bone. She let out a short hissing sound followed by "Mmmmm.'

He smiled to himself as he started to suck on and kiss all over her collar bone. "No- no- nothing Brian. I ju, I jus…" she stuttered as his tongue continued to skillfully dance over her collar bone. He felt her relax into him, and the action that was solely meant to get to her, actually started getting to him also. His hands slowly moved from her lower back to caressing the 'large tuckus' he had just finished talking about, through the thin blue cotton shorts. His tongue broadening the area it was re-discovering, now ranging from the top of her breast to her ear. Her free hand moved to the back of his neck, encouraging him to continue.

"No, no," she tried to explain through the phone. "I have to go, let me call you back," she said quickly using all her energy to focus on getting the words out.

"Okay I lo-," was all she heard before she flipped the phone clothes.

"Greg," she uttered between moans, "I don't thin-… I think you should stop."

He just continued doing what he was doing causing more moans to escape from her. They went on like this for a few minutes before her moans grew louder, waking her from the whirlwind called House she had just gotten swept up in. It wasn't until her moans became so loud that they were echoing off of the wall, that she realized they weren't only generating from the sensation of his tongue on her neck, but his hand squeezing and rubbing her butt, and the feel of his calloused hand slowly making its way up her shirt again. She had also involuntarily started rolling her hips against the growing bulge in his pants. It took everything sane inside of her stop him, but she managed to do so.

"Greg no," she said pulling his hand from under her shirt with one hand and placing the index finger and the thumb of the other on each side of his face to pull his mouth away from attacking her neck. They just stared at each other, her trying to maintain her stance on the issue, and him trying to figure out why she was talking to him like a dog. She must have known what he was going to do next, because as soon as he poked his tongue out to pass it over her lips, she used the hand still on his face to raise his head up turning his tongue away from her face. They both started laughing as they fell back on the bed.

"Why do you always do things like that?" she asked him as she turned on her side to face him.

"Because you let me," he told her. "I so had you going."

"It seems like you had yourself going," she told him pointing down to the bulge in his pants.

"You are the cause if this," he told her reaching for her, but she pushed him away. "Com'on, you can't pitch a tent in my pants if you aren't going to go camping."

"House there's a room full of kids on one side of us and your mother is in the next room," she said still laughing at his last comment.

"You say that like we're in high school or something," he told her. She just looked at him. "I guess you're right though," he continued, "You can get pretty loud."

"I do not," she told him, a little surprised by his comment.

"I don't know about Harry," he told her, "but you do with me."  
Her face started to turn red. "It's okay though," he added, then winked at her. "I like it."

"Shut up," she said hitting him in the arm as they both started to laugh again.

"Did he ever get you to the point where you let out that weird sound that sounds like a human crossed with a jungle cat in heat? You know that little scream you do when I've gotten you to the point of release." he asked. Her mouth fell open and her face grew a deeper shed of red, as she remembered what he was talking about.

"Don't be ashamed," he continued. "I think it's very sexy."

"Would you shut up already," she said.

"Or is that something only I have had the privilege of making you do?" he asked. She didn't answer, but her face did turn almost hot pink and the shy smirk remained on her face, and he had his answer. He felt his ego boost, and decided to see what else he could get out of her.

They stayed up most of the night talking and laughing with and at each other. For him, it helped him to feel more at ease with being back in the home of all his bad childhood memories. She saw it as helping him and her. She knew that the conversation and constant joking kept his mind off of his surroundings and she was just happy to have back the man she had fallen in love with, even if just for a little while. But even she was starting to see that the appearance of that man was starting to become more and more prevalent, although House had vowed that he wouldn't let him out from behind that locked door again. When they finally ended up falling asleep, it was with his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close, and the scent of her curls flowing through his nostrils, calming him along with the heat from her body.  
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The next day House ended up being forced to go to the park. He had picked the wrong weekend to visit his mother, the weekend of the annual Founder's Day celebration. A day where almost everyone in town would be at the local park having picnics, socializing, and all other sorts of things House found to be as useful and sincere as the words please and thank you. He had originally told them he wasn't going, but between his mother's begging, Cuddy's constant coercion, Madison's constant pleading, and Hayden's sarcastic wit about the whole situation, Logan's trying to get him to say yes so they would all stop talking about it, and Isabella whining because she was ready to go to the '_pawk_', he had decided to go just to get them off of his back.

So far he was keeping his word though, as he lay on one of the blankets that his mother had bought for them to sit on, with his sunshades on and his eyes close. He had gone, but he was not liking it. His mother was now bugging him about being a 'sourpuss', so he decided he would get away from her for a little while. He got up and walked over to the wagon where the man was selling the snow cones and waited his turn in line. He didn't mind the line being so long, seeing as the longer he stayed in line, the longer it would be before his mother bothered him about his lack of participation again. It was a beautiful day out and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Even the kids had found some friends that they were now off somewhere, hopefully not getting into trouble with. The man had just handed House his snow cone, as he turned with his cane to go back over to where Cuddy and his mother was with Isabella. He was half way back to them when a not so pleasant face from his past came into view blocking the path to his destination.

"Gregory House," the tall slender built man said, with a cheesy grin on his face. "Long time no see, man, how have you been?"

"Great," he said condescendingly mimicking the man's enthusiasm. Then he held up his cane, "You know except for the leg thing."

House tried to get past the man, but he just turned with him and kept talking, making House turn back to him.

"Yeah, your mother told me about that," he said. "You're making it alright though?"

"Yeah," House replied dryly, knowing that the man was being pretentious.

He wanted to walk back over, but knowing this man, he would only follow him talking the whole way. Then he would probably spark up a conversation with his mother and he would never be able to get rid of him. The man's name was Steven Aldridge, he had graduated high school with House. Not that he had anything against the man, other than that he was the typical high school jock quarter back of the football team and stuff like that, but he and House weren't exactly what you would call friends in high school. He seemed to be doing alright for himself though, surprisingly to House. Their mothers would make them be civil towards each other, but when they got to school, Steven always acted as if he was better than House. Although House played lacrosse back then, he was the rebellious type and Steven was the typical prototype of the perfect teenage son, making him what Steven would call an outcast. It was like a feud going on between them in high school, the leader of the populars and the leader of the outcasts. And from what House could pick up on, Steven's ego was just as big as it had been back then, luckily House's had took the leisure of getting even bigger.

He was answering the man's question when he suddenly noticed the man's attention had veered off in the direction behind him. He stopped talking, but the man didn't seem to notice. He would have taken this time to make a get away, but his curiosity got the best of him and he followed the man's eyes back to the blankets he was headed back towards. The only thing he saw in the general direction was Cuddy now sitting alone with Isabella in her arms. She had on a loose fitting grapevine colored sleeveless wrap dress with the larger belt of the same color wrapped around the center a few times creating a bunched look and accentuating her waist before it narrowed at the ends, which she had tied into a loose knot. Her brown curls blew in the wind covering her and Isabella's face as she leaned over and bought her face closer to the girl's while tickling her.

"She's hot right?" Steven said sounding like they were in high school again.

House just turned back to him with a smug look on his face.

"Now that my friend," the man continued, his true colors about to start showing, "is the type of woman that _you_ would only dream about."

"Ohhh, I wouldn't be too sure about that?" House said in his 'I know something you don't know' voice.

The man let out a condescending chuckle. "Greg com'on, like a woman like that would ever fall for you. From what I hear you're still just as big of a jerk as you were in high school. You may be a successful doctor, but I think it takes a little more to get someone like that…something you obviously don't have."

House just smiled as he stood on side the man, both of them now staring at Cuddy. He felt no reason to insult the man back, he had had the upper hand in this battle of the egos the moment it started.

"Man, she has a body on her. You think she's married?" the man asked him.

"Let's see," he said as Cuddy looked towards them.

He waved her over. She got up and took the little girl's hand and started walking over to them. Isabella started to pull away, and Cuddy warned her not to stray too far as she let go of her hand and continued walking towards House.

"Wait, you know her?" the man asked surprised.

House just stretched his eyes at the man to look as surprised as he had.

"Steven this is Lisa," House said.

The man stuck out his hand to shake hers, "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," she told him.

House didn't say anything else, he just stood there basking in the glow of his victory.

"So you know Greg from…" she said, trying to spark a conversation, seeing as the common factor in the situation wasn't going to.

"High school," the man finished. "We went to high school together. I hope you don't mind me asking, but how does a beautiful woman like yourself know a guy like Greg."

She blushed a little at the compliment, but before she could say anything House chimed in.

"I'm her baby's daddy," he said with the same smug look on his face. "Well I guess babies' daddy would be more appropriate, seeing as how there's more than one."

"We met while I was in college," she explained further, knowing House was willing to leave it at that. "We have two kids together."

"You're married to him?" the man asked surprised.

"Yes," House chimed in before she could speak, leaving Cuddy's mouth hanging open. The man didn't notice because he was too busy dealing with his own shock.

"Oh…oh," the man said realizing what he had said earlier, "listen man I'm sorry. I wouldn't have said those things if I knew she was your wife."

The man apologized once more before he walked away with his tail between his legs, leaving House standing there with a huge smile on his face. Cuddy was about to tell him off, but noticed a staggering Isabella out of the corner of her eyes.

"Izzy?" she questioned taking a step towards the little girl. "Isabella? Baby, what's wrong?" Cuddy kneeled in front of the little girl as House eyed her suspiciously and worriedly. The little girl struggled to take one more staggering step before she collapsed into Cuddy's arm.

"Isabella!" Cuddy yelled to the girl in her arms, her panic coming through in her voice.

"Hey!" House yelled at one of the conveniently placed first aid booths throughout the park getting the people's attention. He waved one over. "We need an ambulance!" he yelled to the one left in the booth. The lady picked up the phone on the wall of the booth and pressed a few buttons to get someone on the other line, while the man grabbed a first aid kit and ran over to them.

Knowing that the little girl's fainting alone was enough to throw Cuddy off for a little while House dropped his cane and the melting snow cone and quickly kneeled down next to them, ignoring the pain in his leg. He snatched the girl out of Cuddy's arms and felt for a pulse. She had one, but it was weak. He put his ear to her mouth which was slightly ajar, as Cuddy clasped one hand over her mouth and the other to the her chest.

"Her airway is constricting," he said as he heard a wheezing sound coming from the girl's airway.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to post, but I hope you guys enjoy it.**


	36. Chapter 36

There was pure silence in the car as House, his mother, and the other three kids drove to the local hospital the ambulance had taken Isabella to. Cuddy had ridden in the back of the ambulance with her. He had managed to administer the EpiPen Jr. from the first aid kit to the child and spotted the red area on the back of her neck. Cuddy had successfully used her fingernails to remove the bee stinger. The ambulance had arrived and taken the little girl away before he could make sure that she wouldn't go into anaphylactic shock. He knew she should be okay, but he was still a little worried, which was unusually characteristic of him. He found a spot in the parking lot, and they all got out to go to the front desk. The nurse pointed them in the direction of Isabella's room. When they walked in they found Cuddy sitting on the bed holding the little girl in her arms.

"She's fine," she told them after seeing the worried looks on their faces. "She's just sleeping."

"Thank goodness," Blythe said as Hayden and Madison climbed on the bed.

House walked over to inspect the bag containing the liquid flowing through the girl's IV, just to make sure some random idiot hadn't given her the wrong medication by mistake.

"I can read too you know," Cuddy told him, once she saw what he was doing. She smiled at him, knowing that he was concerned for the little girl.

"What was wrong with her?" Logan asked as he leaned over Madison's shoulders to do his own personal inspection of his little sister.

"A bee stung her, and she had an allergic reaction to it," she told him, seeing the worry in his face. "She's going to be fine. We'll be able to take her home in a few hours."

He nodded, still staring at the little girl.

"Why don't you guys walk down to the cafeteria with me," Blythe told the three teens after seeing how worried they were. "Maybe we can get something to snack on, since we're going to be here for a while."

The four of them left, heading towards the cafeteria. House sat on the chair next to the bed and stared at the little girl for a moment. He brushed some of the blonde curls out of her face and let his hand linger on the bed. He hung his head looking down at the floor.

"Are you okay?" Cuddy asked him, seeing the sudden change in his mood.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Just thinking."

"About what?" she pushed.

"My dad," he paused, and she waited for him to continue. "I remember being rushed to this same hospital when I was a little boy. I almost drowned at the town pool, and that bastard couldn't care less if I lived or died. He just walked in the room, took one look at me, saw that I was going to live and walked back out, without saying a word. He just came so that he could say that he did."

She stared at him for a moment, but he didn't continue. So she did for him.

"And after what happened with Isabella today, you're wondering how he could've been so cold?" He still didn't look at her, so she just put her hand over his. "Greg, I've told you before, you're not your father. You could never do to anybody else what he did to you and your mother. You might pretend like you could, but you never could."

She let her hand linger over his until she felt the little girl stirring in her other arm. The girl slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Cuddy.

"Hey, sweetie," Cuddy smiled down at her. "Are you feeling better?"

The girl just nodded tiredly. "Do you want something to drink?" Cuddy continued. The girl nodded again.

"I've got it," House said reaching for the pitcher and a cups sitting on the tray next to the bed.

He handed the cup to Cuddy as Logan walked back into the room followed by Hayden and Madison.

"Look who's up," Logan said as he pulled the other chair closer to the bed.

"Here Izzy," Madison said climbing into the bed next to Cuddy, "we bought you some candy."

The little girl's eyes lit up and a smile came to her face when she saw the load of junk food Hayden dumped onto the bed. House walked out of the room leaving Cuddy to argue alone about them buying too many sweets. He paced the hall in front of the hospital room before stopping and looking through the part of the glass window that was not closed off by the blinds. He was so deep in his thoughts staring at the scene on the other side of the glass, that he didn't notice Blythe walking up behind him. She stared at him for a while, reading his facial expressions, before she spoke.

"Why won't you just allow yourself to be happy Gregory?" she asked him.

He turned his head to look at her, acknowledging her presence, but he did not answer.

"Everyone deserves a chance to be happy," she continued.

"I am perfectly fine wi-," he tried to lie, but she cut him off.

"No you're not," she told him. He didn't bother refuting her. Although he was almost impossible to read, his mother was one of the very few people who could figure out the confounding maze that is Gregory House. "You love her," she continued. "You want your family back, but you're not willing to tell her that, you're not even willing to admit it to yourself. You want to be a part of what they have."

"I am a part of it," he replied quietly.

"Yeah, but not the part you would like to be," she corrected him. "Even Logan and Isabella; I see how attached you've gotten to them."

"Are you kidding," he tried to deflect, "I hate other people's kids."

"Well maybe you don't see them so much as other people's kids anymore. She sure doesn't," she told him. He didn't say anything. "I saw the look in your eyes today when you held that baby in your arms. I heard the same concern in your voice I heard when Madison caught her first panic attack."

He just went back to staring through the window, and she stood a little while longer studying him, before she spoke. "Don't let him win, son," she said as she touched his arm and joined the others in the room.

House looked down at the floor, reflecting on his mother's last words to him. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but deep down he knew his mother was right, about everything. About Cuddy, his girls and the other two kids also. But he didn't know what he should do about it. He had to make up his mind quickly though, because as Wilson had said before, it wasn't all about him anymore. She was also right about his father, even in his death, the man still haunted House. Cuddy caught his eyes through the window and smiled at him, and he couldn't help but to return the gesture.

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A few hours later the doctors had discharged the little girl, eager to get House out of their hospital, because he was one again, being House. They prescribed some medicine just in case the reaction flared up again, and they got the prescription filled and went home.

He walked into the room to see Cuddy lying in the middle of the bed with Isabella curled up next to her. She wanted the little girl to sleep next to her so she could keep a closer eye on her, just in case the reaction did flare up. He didn't complain at all, because he knew he would be up all night checking on the little girl, if she was in the other room. He limped into the room slowly and sat on the edge of the bed next to Cuddy. He turned on the lamp on the nightstand and just sat there, staring at the floor in deep thought. He heard Cuddy stir behind him after a while, but didn't acknowledge her, until she spoke.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him.

"No, nothing's wrong," he said solemnly, still staring at the floor. "Go back to sleep."

She knew he was lying, but she didn't move. She waited, staring at him for a few moments before getting up and crawling over to him. She got behind him on her knees with her feet tucked under her. She parted her legs so that her knees were on either side of his thighs, allowing her to press her front to his back. She then wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and put her chin on his shoulder. She didn't say anything; they just stayed in that position, as she waited for him to either decide to go to sleep or give up the ghost and discuss what was on his mind. A few minutes later he reached over and opened the draw on the nightstand. He searched through it and paused when his eyes came across a small piece of wood. He pulled it out along with another piece of what seemed to be two pieces of a handmade wooden aircraft. It appeared to be broken in half. He toyed with it a little while, which meant he wanted to talk about it, so she willingly gave in.

"What's that?" she asked.

He sighed deeply before answering. "It was a gift," he started. "I made it for him at this camp I went to when I was seven, but clearly he didn't want it. It was supposed to be a replica of a navy fighter plane, but now," he hesitated, and let his hands drop lazily, still holding the two parts of the plane, "it's just garbage."

"It's not garbage," she said propping herself up higher on her knees. She leaned forward a little, sliding her hands down the length of his arms until her hands met his. She took the two pieces from his hands, flipped one around and easily reunited the two pieces, fitting the edges of the cracked wood with its corresponding notches on the other piece.

"All you need is a little glue," she said quietly holding the restored figure up in front of both of them. He felt the smile that formed on her face as she pressed her cheek against his. He stared at it for a little while, and a small chuckle escaped him.

"Yeah, maybe so," he said taking the two pieces from her and putting them back in the drawer.

She ran her hands up and down his arms, from his elbows to his shoulders, massaging them gently. She did this for a few minutes, and felt him relax a little.

"Lets get some sleep," she said tightening her grip as if to give him a hug. "We have to drive back tomorrow."

She released him from her hold and lay back down next to the little girl. She wrapped her arm around the little girl and soon felt House's arm wrapping around her waist as he snuggled up behind her. She smiled to herself as she closed her eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep. He watched her sleep, but before long, his mind drifted off to the one time he had brought his family to visit his mother and father.  
***********************

_"Just don't let him intimidate you," he said, as she adjusted a three month old Madison in her arms._

_He was sitting on the chair facing her as she sat on the bed in his old bedroom. He had finally come down to visit his parents, after much encouragement from both his mother and Cuddy. He felt a little guilty because his mother had only seen Hayden once, when she had came to visit them, leaving his father behind of course. She hadn't seen Madison at all, and of course, she fell head over heals when she saw her as she did with Hayden._

_"He's not going to intimidate me," she told him. "I'm not a five year old."_

_"I didn't say you were," he started, "but you're still afraid of scary movies, and Freddie Krueger has nothing on this guy."_

_"Greg, I'm not afraid of your father, okay," she told him. "He's only human, how bad can he be. He's married to your mother, and she's a sweetheart. I doubt she would have married him if he was that bad." She waited for him to answer her, but he didn't, he wasn't even looking at her, well her face anyway. "Greg," she said making him look up from her chest to her face._

_"I'm sorry, did you say something?" he asked. She just stared at him in disbelief._

_"You know breastfeeding has always suited you," he said referring to her now increased bust size. "We should have another kid after you stop nursing Maddie."_

_She rolled her eyes at him, as his mother walked in the room holding a two year old Hayden._

_"He just pulled up in the driveway," she said._

_House took a deep breathe then looked back at Lisa. "Don't say I didn't warn you."_

_They got up and went into the living room, meeting the man as he walked through the door. Lisa sat Madison back in her carrier and stood beside House. He scanned all the faces that looked at him, letting his eyes linger on House's a little longer, but the scowl never left his face. That was his only acknowledgment of their presence. He was about to leave out of the room when Blythe spoke up._

_"John," she said, making him stop and look towards her, "aren't you going to speak to Greg? This is his girlfriend, Lisa," she said motioning to her. "They brought the girls for a visit."_

_The man just stood scowling at the woman, no one said anything, so Lisa spoke to break the nervous tension, not knowing what she was getting herself into._

_"Hi, I'm Lisa," she said extending her hand to him. "It's nice to meet you."_

_The man just looked at her extended hand, but never extended his. He looked back up to her face with a smirk now on his, and stared at her before responding._

_"So you're the one that he knocked up huh?" she slowly withdrew her hand as the smile disappeared from her face. Not sure what to do next, she looked to House who stood glaring at the man. His jaw twitched and his nostrils flared; it took everything in him, including his mother's hand on his arm reminding him his kids were in the room, to not go over and punch his father square in the face._

_Lisa turned back to the man in front of her, with a shocked look still on her face. He looked at Hayden and then at Madison sleeping quietly in her carrier, then back to her. He tilted his head to the side and studied her physical features for a moment._

_"Good choice," he said turning back towards House and his mother. He then turned back to Cuddy. "You've birthed two of his little bastards, I guess he's made you his personal little whore."_

_Before Cuddy could reply to him House had made his way across the room and pushed her to the side. "Greg, no!" she yelled, but it was too late. She held her hands to her mouth as she watched House right hook his father in the jaw. The man stumbled backwards and looked surprised as he put his hand on the spot House had just hit._

_"Get the girls and get in the car," he said still staring at the man looking at him in surprise. "We're leaving."_

_"Greg I…" she tried, but he cut her off._

_"GO GET IN THE CAR!" he yelled._

_Startled by the loudness and tone of his voice, she quickly grabbed the handle of Madison's carrier in one hand and the diaper bag in the other and started out the door, as Blythe followed with tears in her eyes, still holding Hayden._

_"We go bye-bye daddy," Hayden said as Blythe held the door open for Cuddy to go through. This was her way of telling him that she wanted him to come with them. He broke his stare with his father to face his daughter. Fear read on her face. She didn't want to leave him behind as she clearly picked up on the evil that was John House._

_"Daddy will be out in a minute baby," he told her, in the softest voice he could muster at the time._

_He turned his head back to his father who had now made it back to his feet. The man had a condescending smirk on his face._

_"You little piss ant," he started, "you've finally grown some balls. I never thought I'd see the day."_

_"You can say what you want about me," he told him, "but if you ever talk that way about Lisa or my girls again, you'll have more to worry about than a swollen jaw."_

_"You think you scare me boy?" he asked with hate in his voice. "You don't scare me. I talk anyway I please about anyone I please. "_

_"Not about them you don't," House replied through clenched teeth._

_"And what makes them so special?" the man asked, with a smug look on his face._

_"They're MY family," he told him, never looking away from the man's hate filled eyes._

_"You don't deserve a family," the man told him._

_"Yeah, well I have one. And I'm going to be a much better father and husband to them than you could have ever managed to be to me or my mother in your pathetic so-called life."_

_The man laughed a little then started talking. "You'll screw it up. Just like you screw up everything else."_

_House continued glaring at the man, with fire in his eyes, as he took in all of his words. The man continued, "You'll suck the life out of that girl just like the little leech you are. You can't make her happy, you're worthless."_

_"She's happier with me than my mother ever was with you," he spat back._

_"You really think you're better than me?" the man asked with the same smug look on his face._

_"I know I'm better than you."_

_"You're not better than me," the man yelled back. "We're one in the same, like father like son."_

_"You're not my real father," he told the man._

_This wiped the smug grin off of the man's face, but the comment didn't surprise him. He already knew._

_"That maybe so," the man said quietly, "but you learned everything you know from me. You can't be better than me, you don't know how to be. You're damaged boy, and sooner or later, you'll start taking it out on them."_

_House managed a smug grin of his own through all of the hurt that John's words were bringing. "You're just resentful that I am actually happy. After all those years you tried to break me and keep me as miserable as you, I finally found happiness. Something you never had and something you never wanted for me. Well guess what?" he yelled. "You lose DAD?"_

_With that House started walking towards the door, with John yelling behind him. "I didn't lose and you're still miserable. And you're going to make them just as miserable as you are. You're worthless."_

_House kept walking towards where his mother was standing outside of the car talking to Lisa, while the girls slept in the backseat. But John's words were still echoing in his head._

_"Gregory what happened?" Blythe asked still obviously upset, by the beginning of the confrontation she had witnessed._

_"Nothing Mom. I'll talk with you later," he said kissing her cheek and turning back to Lisa, who was looking at him waiting for an answer also. "Let's go."_

_She hugged Blythe and told her goodbye. "I'll talk to him," she reassured the woman before getting in the car._

_She was concerned about House and wanted to find out what had happened, but she was also ready to get her kids and get away from the man that still remained inside of the house. He started the car and sped away from the house, obviously still upset about what had transpired between him and John._  
***************************

The feel of Cuddy's body stirring next to him woke him from his thoughts, making him look back down at her. She was the one that had gotten him through the repercussions of the last visit with his father and she was getting him through this visit back to the home the man's ghost still haunted. He smiled as she seemed to drift back off into whatever dream she had been having. He laid his head on the pillow next to hers and kissed the back of her neck. '_I love you, Lisa_,' he admitted to himself, in his head as he drifted off to sleep.

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**A/N: Gave you more Huddy!!**


	37. Chapter 37

"Okay, you guys can't show your mom your report cards yet?" Logan said keeping his eyes on the road.

"Why not?" Madison asked from the backseat.

"Because I haven't come up with a lie for why I'm failing history and chemistry," the boy replied.

"Why don't you just tell her that you go..." Hayden started.

"Because I don't want her to know," he told her.

"Yeah, and she's just not going to ask any questions as to why you never get home until late at night," Madison said sarcastically.

"I'll just tell her that I have after school clubs, she knows that I do soccer and other things, so that shouldn't be hard. And then I'll tell her that I go over to friends' houses and hang out or study," he said.

"Yeah, because those two F's certainly tell how hard you have been studying," Hayden said.

"She won't know about the F's," he told her.

"For now she..."' Madison started, but he cut her off.

"You know you guys are really making this harder for me than it has to be," he told them.

"Alright, alright," Hayden said. "We won't show her our report cards and we won't tell her."

She just stared at the boy.

"What?" he asked glancing at her before turning back to the road.

"You don't have to do this you know," she told him.

"Uh, yeah I do," he said dismissing her last statement. "You know how the guy is, he doesn't want me or my little sister around, and your mom's marrying him soon, so we're going to get the boot."

"No you won't" Madison said sadly from the back seat. "She wouldn't do that to you guys."

"I know _she_ wouldn't," he said quietly, "but _he _would."

"It doesn't matter what he thinks," Hayden said.

"Apparently it does," he said. "He's going to be your new step dad."

"We already have a daddy," Madison said. "He's just going to be the guy that marries our mom."

"Yeah well he pulls rank over the kids from down the street," he said.  
Sadness and silence took over the car for a moment.

"You guys have to promise not to say anything," he told them.

"We promise," Hayden replied.

"Pinky swear?" he added holding his pinky out to the girl.

"Pinky swear," Hayden said, wrapping her pinky around his.

"Com'on Maddie," he said reaching his hand into the backseat, "because you're most likely to blab out of the two of you."

"No I'm not," she defended as she repeated the same actions as Hayden.

The boy pulled up into the driveway of the house he had been living in for the past couple of weeks and let the girls out of the car. He waited for them to get inside then backed out of the driveway, starting what would be his routine for the next few weeks.

* * *

"You seem happy to be back home," Cuddy said pulling away from her kiss with Brian.

He had come back to town today and she was at the airport picking him up. He had finally come home, after he had called the night they had gotten back from New Haven telling her his trip had gotten extended a few weeks.

"I am," he said. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too," she said as he pulled her into yet another hug.

"Do anything fun while I was gone?" he asked.

"No," she lied, "just the same old things."

"You should really think about that vacation I was telling you about," he said.

"I will," she told him, "but now I have to go and pick up Izzy from daycare."

"Do you really have to?" he asked. "I was thinking we could go to my old place and have a little time alone."

"I'm sorry babe," she said pulling away from another kiss, "but I have to go get her. The place closes in thirty minutes and it's a twenty minute drive from here to there."

She started walking out of the airport and he followed.

"Can't her grandmother go and pick her up?" he asked. She didn't say anything. "Lisa?" he questioned.

"I'm not explaining this to you again," she told him becoming annoyed.

He sighed not wanting to get into another argument with her and sleep alone at his old place tonight.

"Are we ever going to get to spend some time alone?" he asked her.

"Of course we will," Cuddy told him opening her car door. "I've only had them for a couple of weeks since their grandma fell and broke her hip. They're not the problem, it's you who's always gone," she mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

He didn't answer, he just got into the passenger side of the car. They drove in silence for the next few minutes, the sound of her phone ringing finally slicing through the tension in the air.

"Hello," she said, not recognizing the number on the caller ID box.

Brian listened on intently as she picked up a conversation with whoever was on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, this is she?"

"Dr. Cuddy," the man on the other end of the phone started. "I'm calling about Logan Everett. It says here that I should call you in order to discuss school matters."

"Yes, that's right."

"Well a few of Logan's teachers are reporting having problems with him, not disciplinary problems," he assured her before she jumped to conclusions like most parents he called. "Are you aware that he's failing two of his classes?"

"Uhhm, no," Cuddy said, shocked at the news. She knew Logan was a bright kid, and he had never complained about having any trouble with his school work. "No I wasn't," she finished. She had also seen his report cards; on the last one he had gotten all A's and B's; she stopped mid thought. 'Wait, when was the last time I saw a report card.' The man continued.

"I've also been getting reports from his teachers that he's been falling asleep in class," the man said, not shocking her so much this time. But he must have been falling asleep more than usual, since it actually warranted being mentioned in the phone call, she thought. "I was wondering if there were any special circumstances at home that the boy might be dealing with?" the man finished.

"No," she replied slowly, running all of the past events through her mind. "None that I could think of, other than his grandmother being sick, but we're dealing with that. I talk to him about it all the time, so I don't think that would be the problem."

She really didn't think that was the problem. The boy's grandfather had been really sick for a year before he died, and before that, the man still needed a sufficient amount of extra help and medical needs. This had pulled their grandmother's attention away from both of the children for the most part, Cuddy being the one picking up what the elderly woman couldn't handle. They had been all, but living with her since their mother had died four years ago. The boy had made it through the death of his mother and father, which both occurred in a relatively short amount of time. He had been helping his grandmother care for his grandfather and herself when he could. His grandfather had recently passed away, but the boy had still managed to maintain his grades and a sense of normalcy in his life through all of this. To have gone through so much, he still had the demeanor and lived the carefree life of a normal sixteen year old boy, at least she thought up until the phone call.

"I'll talk to him tonight though," she told the man. "I'll find out what's going on with him."

"Well if you find out anything and you need any help, you know the school is willing to help. We have counselors to help with these kinds of things," he offered.

"Okay, thanks," she said to the man before hanging up the phone.

She was a little hurt and offended by his last comments. She felt like she was failing him in some kind of way. And she had promised his mother, when she was on her death bed, that she would take care of the boy and his sister. The woman had known the state that her parents were in and knew they wouldn't be able to sufficiently care for her kids, but she had wanted her kids to have a normal life, a happy life. So far Cuddy thought she was doing a good job at this, but clearly she wasn't.

"What's wrong?" Brian asked after seeing the distant look on her face.

"That was the school," she told him.

"Are the girls okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, they're fine," she told him. "It's Logan, he's failing two of his classes."

"See that's what I'm talking about Lisa," Brian started again. "Here you are getting all worked up over a kid that's not even your responsibility."

"I'm not getting worked up over it," she told him. "I'm just worried that's all. And he is my responsibility."

"He's sleeping in class," he said repeating the small part of the conversation he had heard over the phone. "Every night I talked to you while I was gone he was coming in after ten, even on school nights."

She was about to defend the boy with the explanation he had given her, but after the phone conversation, she knew that that was no longer a valid excuse.

"Clearly the kid has issues," he said. "I think you should just let him go, before you..."

"Let him go where?" she yelled at him, cutting him off. He was really starting to work her nerves about the whole issue. As far as she was concerned Isabella and Logan were her kids. "He's just a kid, he needs someone to look out for him, where is he going to go?"

"I don't know," he said nonchalantly. "Maybe wherever he goes when he's staying out all times of the night."

Cuddy didn't bother replying. She was too upset with him and too worried about Logan to get into an argument with him at that moment. But she knew once she got home, three people had answers that she was looking for, and all three of them where going to be in serious trouble.

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After Cuddy had picked up Isabella, she went home, to of course find Logan not there. She only hoped tonight would be one of the nights he came home early. But Madison and Hayden were home, and she would get what she could get out of them, and deal with Logan later.

"I'm home," Cuddy said in her nice voice, masking the fact that she was upset.

"Hey mom," Madison said from her spot on the sofa.

"Hey girls," Brian said stepping in the door behind Cuddy.

All he got was some mumbled responses. She went to fix Isabella a snack and left the little girl in the kitchen before returning to the living room to confront the girls. She took the remote off of the coffee table and turned the television off.

"Uh, we were watching that," Hayden said.

She just rolled her eyes at the girl.

"Do you have something that you want to tell me?" she said trying to give them the chance to come clean.

The girls just looked at each other confused. "No," Madison replied.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked folding her arms.

Again the girls looked at each other, knowing that they were in trouble for something, but not willing to tell anything, to prevent incriminating themselves with something she didn't know about.

"I love you?" Hayden said.

"Nice try," she said. By this time Brian had made his way back into the living room with them. "Did you get report cards a couple of weeks ago?"

The girls just looked at each other, this time with panic in their eyes. This told Cuddy all she needed to know.

"Go get them," she said. The girls got up and walked out of the living room. "And bring your cell phones too."

The girls returned with their phones the requested pieces of paper.

"Why do you want our phones?" Madison asked.

"Because I don't want Logan getting a warning before he comes home," she told them. "And this is your punishment for not giving me your report cards." She took the phones and then began examining the papers. A look of confusion came over her face.

"I don't get it," she said, "you guys have good grades." She stared at them for a while. "You were covering for Logan."

"Great, now he has them lying for him," Brian said, making Hayden shoot him a mean glare.

"What's going on with Logan?" she asked them. "Where is he?"

The girls just looked down at the floor, trying not to make eye contact with her. "So you're not going to answer?" she questioned again... Still nothing. "Fine," she said, "go to your rooms and do your homework, and do not touch those computers until I get to the bottom of this."

The girls did as they were told.

"Now do you see where I'm coming from?" Brian asked. "You have your own kids to worry about, you don't need extra kids especially if he's going to be a bad influence on them."

Cuddy just listened, but she didn't say anything. She would try to defend Logan but Brian thought he had a valid point. She knew that Logan wasn't a bad influence, because he and the girls were just the same. They all would do their dirt and drag the rest in behind them. Since they had discovered that they could work together, it was always them against her. She had to admit, it was hard trying to keep track of three teenagers, and Brian didn't seem like he was willing to help.  
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She had just finished putting on Isabella's pajamas when she heard the door open. She went to the door thinking it was Logan, but to her surprise, it was House. She was happy Brian hadn't seen the way he just walked in, with the key he had stolen.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him quietly as Isabella ran past her only to be scooped up by House.

"I'm always here," he said about to walk around her, but she stepped in front of him.

"I told you Brian was coming home today," she told him.

"And?"

"_And_ that means call before you come over," she replied.

"I'll try to remember next time," he told her, not really meaning it. He went around her still holding the little girl in his arms.

"Guess what," Isabella said not giving him a chance to respond. "The mean man's back."

"He is?" House questioned as if surprised. "Well you just make sure you sleep with Lisa tonight, between her and that mean man. If you do it enough, he'll eventually turn into fairy dust and go away, if we're lucky, forever."

Cuddy just rolled her eyes and she was about to go into the kitchen to warn Brian of their guest, until the door opened again. This time it was the person she had been waiting for.

"Where in the hell have you been?" she asked, making the boy's eyes shoot up to meet hers.

"I uhh, I..." he faltered a little with his lie. "I was studying at uh...Landon's house."

"You wanna try again," she asked him. "This time try the truth."

Her yelling had made everyone in the house come into the foyer. Brian just looked as House stepped out of the living room.

"Danny," he acknowledged him by nodding his head towards the man with a fake smile on his face.

Brian just rolled his eyes, before turning his attention back to Cuddy and Logan.

"That is the truth," he lied again.

"Give me your backpack," she said reaching for the bag off of the boy's back.

He handed it to her, and she began to search through it. It didn't take long before she pulled out the piece of paper she was looking for. She unfolded it, and saw that the boy's report card consisted of the two F's she had been warned about and the rest C's and D's.

"Why didn't you tell me you were having trouble in school?" she questioned.

"I'm not having trouble in school," he told her.

"Well that paper says differently," Brian chimed in. "And how dare you pull these girls into this mess with you?"

The boy just put his head down and looked at the floor. House looked down as he felt the little girl grab onto his left leg. She was obviously terrified by all the yelling going on around her, so he picked her up. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and putting her head on his shoulder.

"Shut up asshole," Hayden said.

"Hayden!" Cuddy yelled as all the adults just looked at the girl.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," she continued. "Logan didn't pull us into anything."

"So you admit you had a part in this?" Cuddy said. The girls didn't say anything. "You're grounded for a month," she continued.

"Don't, punish them" Logan said. "He was right. I asked them to lie for me."

House saw the boy look at him out of the corner of his eyes, as if he was waiting for him to jump in and start yelling at him too. Cuddy just stared at him, a look of concern, disappointment, and anger on her face.

"So where have you been?" she asked him calmly. Again the boy didn't say anything.

This set Brian off, as he now started yelling at the boy. He stepped between Cuddy and Logan and started getting in the boy's face. Upon the loud outburst, House felt the little girl jump in his arms, as she buried her face into his neck and tightened her grip on him. Hayden was the first to step in between them and push Brian away.

"Stop yelling at him," she said. Then she turned to Cuddy. "Mom aren't you going to do anything."

"Go upstairs," she told the two girls, "take Isabella with you."

"Are you serious?" Madison questioned.

"Go," Cuddy said quietly.

Hayden snatched the little girl from House's arms and stormed off upstairs. Madison stood there for a little while longer.

"I don't believe this," Madison said, before turning to follow Hayden.  
House went after her, figuring he could get her to tell him something faster than Hayden or Logan. He caught the girl at the bottom of the stairs.

"What do you know?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You know what I mean," he told her. "Where has Logan been going?"

The girl just looked down at the floor. "I promised I wouldn't say anything."

"Well there's obviously a problem, and your mom can't fix it, unless she knows what it is. So one of you has to tell her what it is."  
The girl looked at him then back to the floor before she started speaking.

"He has a job, that's why he's been getting home so late," she began. "He's scared that after Brian marries mom, him and Izzy are going to have to go back and live with his grandma, and that since she can't take care of them,they are going to take Izzy away. Sooo...that's why he got a job. So he can save money and take care of Isabella. He didn't want to tell mom, because she would make him quit after seeing his grades."

House stared at the girl, before he nodded letting her know she was free to go upstairs. He made his way back to the foyer where Brian was still yelling. This time it was Cuddy who was standing between them. Brian wasn't trying to solve the problem, he was just berating the boy. How did he expect the boy to tell them what was going on when he didn't let him get a word in.

"Go upstairs and pack a bag," House told the boy over Brian's yelling.

Logan and Cuddy just looked at House, while Brian still focused on the boy.

"What? Where is he going?" Cuddy asked.

"I'm taking him to my apartment," House said. "He doesn't need to be here right now. Not while _he's_ here anyway," he said looking to Brian. The boy just continued staring at him. "Go," he said, "unless you want to stay here and finish the polite discussion you were having."

The boy just stepped around them and went upstairs to pack a bag. Cuddy just looked at House a little surprised by his actions, but thankful none the less. She knew that the situation had gotten ugly, and really didn't want the boy to be around Brian at the time either. He shot her a disappointed glare and she looked down at the floor. She did feel a little guilty about letting Brian jump in the boy's face. She should've jumped in and defended him, but she was torn. After all, Brian was her fiance and if he was going to be a part of their family, the kids had to learn to respect him and he had to be allowed to get his opinions across. The boy returned down stairs with an overnight bag and he and House left, leaving Cuddy to rethink her current living situations.


	38. Chapter 38

After House and Logan had left, Cuddy went upstairs to check on the girls. Madison had her door locked and wouldn't answer her and Hayden was currently yelling at her from the other side of her locked door.

"I don't want him here!" the girl shouted.

"Hayden please," Cuddy replied. "You promised me you would try."

The door suddenly swung open, revealing Hayden with Isabella on her hip.

"And you promised that nothing would change. So much for promises," she said putting the little girl on the floor and closing the door in Cuddy's face.

Cuddy sighed and looked down at the little girl standing next to her. She couldn't get mad at them for getting mad with her because truth be told, she was mad with herself.

"Are you mad at me too?" she asked. The little girl shook her head sending her curls into a flying frenzy.

Cuddy smiled and reached for her hand. "Com'on lets go back down stairs."

The little girl stopped in her tracks jerking Cuddy's arm back towards her. "What?"

"He's down there," she said.

"Izzy, you don't have to be afraid of Brian," she told her. "He's not going to do you anything."

The girl just looked at the floor, but she didn't move.

"You wanna sleep in Logan's room?" she asked the girl. Shel just nodded.

She took the little girls hand and they started to walk back down the hall. "I don't really wanna be around him either."  
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"Thanks," Logan said as House pulled up in front of his apartment.

"Your welcome," he said getting out of the car.

"I'm sorry," the boy continued.

"For what?"

"For asking Hayden and Madison to lie for me," he said. "I don't want you to be mad at me too. You're like the only one that's on my side right now."

"First off all," House said unlocking the door to his apartment. "I know for a fact Hayden and Madison are perfectly capable of getting into trouble without your help. Second, I'm not on your side. You are still wrong for not telling Cuddy what was going on."

"I couldn't," he said. "She would've made me quit."

"Well maybe you do need to quit. It's clear you can't handle both school and a job."

"I can't quit," he said. "Then who's going to take care of Izzy."

"The same person who's been taking care of her since the day she was born," House retorted.

The boy sat down on the couch and stared at the floor.

"No," he said. "She's not going to want us around anymore, once she marries him."

"Oh, Cuddy would never choose Angelo over you guys," House said in his sarcastic cheery voice, except he wasn't being sarcastic.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"I've known her since before you were born, she's just torn right now," House told him. "But she'll snap back to her senses. Trust me, she can't resist a kid in need."

The boy laughed a little. "Is that why you always act like a kid?"

"No, it's not that I act like a kid," he started, "it's my hotness she can't resist."

"I wish she could resist Brian's douchiness," the boy said. "I don't know what she sees in him."

"Well you know she's always been a great judge of character," House said sarcastically.

"Can I ask you something?"

House just looked at him and waited for him to continue.

"Why didn't you marry her?" Logan started. "I mean if she was married to you, I don't think I would be having this problem right now."

"You probably wouldn't," House said getting up from the sofa. "And you'd be able to lie to her more effectively too."

He went down the hall and returned with some pillows and a blanket.  
"Now go to sleep, you have school in the morning. We wouldn't want you falling asleep in class…oops….too late for that."

* * *

House rolled over and saw the lights on his alarm clock, 6:45 am. He groaned and rolled over to face the door. He just stared at the boy, who stood in the doorway.

"Dude, are you gonna take me to school or what?" the boy asked.

"Wake me up in about an hour," he said rolling back over.

"Are you kidding me?" Logan said stepping into the room. "School starts in a half hour, I have to be on time."

"How about you just don't go?"

"Are you trying to get me killed?" Logan said. "You saw what happened last night and that was just for sleeping in class. I was actually in the building, I hate to see what would happened if I didn't go at all."

House just closed his eyes.

"Com'on man," Logan started again. "I have a test today."

"So…It's not like you're going to pass it anyway," he said referring to the boy's report card.

"Oohho," Logan said with a smile on his face. "Good one, low…but still good."

"Give me an hour," House said groggily as he dosed back off to sleep. It didn't last long, soon the boy was shaking him from his sleep.

His eyes shot open and he looked up at the boy, who was holding out a cell phone with an amused grin on his face.

"She wants to talk to you," he said. House glared at him knowing who '_she_' was already and took the phone.

"Hello?"

"House what the hell is wrong with you?" Cuddy yelled from the other end of the phone. "You can't let him skip school just because you're too lazy to get up and bring him."

"Why didn't you come and get him?" he asked her annoyed.

"Because, I just thought since you volunteered to take him with you last night, that you were also volunteering to be the responsible one and take him to school."

"Have you ever known me to be the responsible one?" was his reply.

"Don't make me come over there," she threatened.

"Be my guest," he said. "I'll make sure you catch me getting out of the shower."

"Greg, please," she said. "It's enough he's already failing his classes, he can't afford to miss school."

"Well he's not failing because he's dumb," House said. "He's failing because he can't focus because he's tired all the time."

"Did he talk to you?" she asked concerned. "What did he tell you?"

He sighed, as the boy walked back in the room. "I'll talk to you when I get to work," he said getting from under the covers. "But I'll be late. I have to bring a kid to school."

"You're always late," she told him.

"I'm sure I can break my record," he said before flipping the phone closed.

He really did break his record, but surprisingly not totally because he tried to. He had to take Logan to school, go back to his apartment and shower. He even threw in a nap for good measure. By the time he walked through the doors of the hospital, it was eleven o'clock. Of course Cuddy was waiting on him, but she didn't even care that he was late.

"What did he tell you?" she asked after practically dragging him into her office.

"If I tell you what do I get out of it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've got the goods and you want them," he said walking over to her desk. "Well some other goods, not the ones that you've been wa…"

"Get to the point," she said seeing where the conversation was going. "Do you want me to take away some of your clinic duty?"

He sat down on the desk and began caressing it. "I don't know," he said. "I kinda had something else in mind."

This drew her attention to his hand sliding across her desk and a slight blush came to her face.

"House I'm not having sex with you just for the information you have," she told him walking behind the desk and sitting in her chair. "I'd squeeze it out of one of the kids first."

"Well then I guess clinic duty will have to do," he said.

"How much clinic duty are we talking about?"

"This is valuable to you," he told her. "Two months."

"One."

"Eight weeks," he countered.

"House that's the same as two months," she told him.

"Technically, minus the days that comes after the twenty eighth."

"One month off," she told him. "Now tell me what happened."

She waited for him to start, but noticed he wasn't paying attention to her anymore.

"Could you please stop looking down my blouse and tell me what's going on," she told him.

"I'm sorry you make it hard…," he left the sentence unfinished, well what most would deem unfinished.

She just rolled her eyes at him. "You're supposed to be telling me something I don't know," she told him, momentarily giving into his need to turn the conversation sexual. "House we are supposed to be discussing Logan."

"Right," he said not being able to quickly come back with a sexual remark of his own. She had threw him for a loop with her unexpected comeback, so he decided to talk about the boy. "His grades are falling because he's tired and he's tired because he has a job."

"I didn't know he had a job," she said surprised.

"Well isn't that how we got to this point?" She just glared at him and waited for him to continue. He told her everything that Madison and Logan had told him.

"Why would he think I would do something like that?"

"I don't know probably because you actually made the stupid decision to marry Zach," he told her.

She didn't reply right away. "So you think I'm making a mistake by marrying Brian?"

"Your words, not mine."

She stared at him as if she was hurt by his implications.

"Aww com'on," he said getting up to leave. "It's not like you weren't thinking it yourself. You've been engaged for couple of months now and you haven't even set a date. When I asked you to marry me, I got home the next day and I was briefed on everything from the venue it was going to be at to the type of tux I needed to get."

She didn't say anything. "Oh, and don't worry," he added opening the door. "I'm sure him and the kids will get along just fine once they all move out. I'm not taking more than one at a time though. Call Wilson, I'm sure he could use the company."

'Speaking of Wilson…' he thought closing the door behind him.  
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"Did you just get here?" Wilson asked as House took his usual seat on the sofa. "I haven't seen you all morning. I'm surprised Cuddy hasn't killed you yet."

"Cuddy's the reason I'm late," he told him. "Her and Maurice with his great parenting skills."

"I'm assuming you're talking about Brian," Wilson tried to correct him.

"What?" House said with a confused look on his face. "Who's Brian?"

"Never mind," Wilson said. "What happened?"

After House had finished giving him the low down on everything that had been going on Wilson just sat with a shocked expression on his face.

"Oh my God," he said.

"I know, the guy's aw…" House started, but was cut off by Wilson.

"It's like you two actually got married," Wilson interrupted. Now it was House's turn to be confused.

"What?"

"Think about it," Wilson told him. "From what I know you're with Cuddy more than Brian is. You're never at your apartment anymore, you practically live at her place, and you suddenly jumped from having two kids to four."

"Whoa… What did you hear? I'm not claiming anyone until I get a DNA te…" House started sarcastically.

"Don't try to avoid the subject," Wilson said a smile coming to his face. "From what you just told me, you and Cuddy are taking care of your two kids, plus the other two, and you two spend most of your free time together. It's like you're a married couple, I mean you've always argued like one, but this is new territory."

House just stared at Wilson in deep thought. He got up to leave without saying a word.

"Where are you going?" Wilson asked.

"To see Cuddy," he told him. "I just realized, she owes me some hot steamy sex."

Wilson just smiled as House closed the door. At least he knew his friend agreed with what he was saying.

House went back to Cuddy's office and of course another argument ensued. It ended in them going to lunch together, since he didn't have a case, and he had taken advantaged of his one month off of clinic duty. This became their routine for the next few weeks, since Brian was so involved in getting the expansions of his company up and running. Logan had moved back in with her after a week, and Cuddy had managed to keep the drama between Brian and the kids to a minimum. There was still constant arguing between Brian and Logan, which Madison and Hayden willingly joined in on. War had been declared in the home and it was three against one with Cuddy stuck in the middle. Her relationship with Brian was becoming even more strained. House had to ease up on his unannounced visits…at least until Brian left town again.

Brian was sleeping at his place since it was closer to his office and he had to work that weekend. House was coming out of the kitchen about to go into the living room when the front door flew open.

"What is your problem?" Hayden yelled.

"It was an accident," Logan yelled back.

"You soaked him," she said.

"Forgive me for getting a little upset when I see the guy I hate the most in the world sucking on your face," he told her.

"Maybe I like him sucking on my face," she snapped back with attitude.

"Well I hope he likes sucking on my fist," he told her."because that's what's going to happen."

"You can't do that," she said.

"Why not?"

She turned to House. "Can you tell him that he can't just go around punching every guy that likes me," she said.

"Why not?" House asked.

"It's not every guy," Logan said, "just the ones I don't like."

"Ugghh," the girl said pushing past him. "Moooom."

"What'd you do?" House asked the boy.

"I _accidentally_ turned the hose on and hosed him down," Logan said with a smirk on his face.

"Nice," he said. "I never did like that kid."

"Neither did I," Logan responded.

A little while later Cuddy came walking into the foyer with Hayden and Madison walking behind her.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Tell him to stay out of my business," Hayden yelled.

"You're fifteen," House said, "you don't have business."

"Tell her she can't see Blake anymore," Logan added.

"Why not?" Cuddy asked.

"Because she kissed him," the boy added.

"So, I've kissed him before," Hayden returned.

"Oh my God," House said with panic in his voice, "Are you having sex?"

This made Madison burst into laughter and Cuddy looked at Hayden.

"Hayden are you having sex?" she asked her just as panicked as House.

"What?" Hayden asked irritated and confused as to how the conversation got turned around on her. Her cheeks also started to redden a little, feeling embarrassed by the question. "No," she yelled, a little offended. "No I'm not having sex. How does one little kiss…you know what forget it. I'm going to bed…This house SUCKS," she added climbing up the stairs.

"Yeah well tough, we know it sucks" Logan said going behind her. "You're just going to have to deal with it like the rest of us."

"This house doesn't suck," Cuddy yelled behind both of the teens.

"Yes it does, and don't worry, she's not having sex," Madison reassured House and Cuddy before going up the stairs also.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a circus," she said walking into the living room.

She laid down on the couch.

"Yeah, well," House said sitting on the end of the couch where her feet were. "We wouldn't have this problem if you just forbade her to see this Blake kid."

He laid down on the sofa behind her and propped himself up on his elbow. She turned on her back so she could look up at him.

"I can't forbid her to see boys," she said. "If that were the case, I might as well just send her to an all girls boarding school in the middle of a secluded forest somewhere."

He looked as if he was contemplating the idea. "That could work."

"Yeah, until she burned the school and the forest down just to get out," she looked up at him and smiled. "That plan might have actually worked if she wasn't _your_ daughter."

"Well at least it'll come in handy when she's dealing with Gavin," he told her making her roll her eyes, sensing the sarcastic remark coming. "He's going to make the best step dad, you sure know how to pick'em."

"Lets not go down that road," she said.

"Oh let's," he said. "I like that road."

"House, seriously," she pleaded.

"I'm just saying," he started again, "they like me better."

"So are you saying I should marry you?" she asked him, with a slightly amused but serious look on her face.

He just stared at her for a minute and without being able to let himself do it, he started talking again. "Wanna watch TV?" he asked.

"No," she said wrinkling her nose, not really expecting him to answer her last question…though she hoped he would have. It would have helped to resolve at least some of the turmoil within her. "All the kids are in bed, this is my only time to relax. Turn on the stereo instead."

He reached for the stereo remote on the end table next to the couch, and clicked the power button. He flipped through the stations until he came to a song she recognized. He tried to change it, but she grabbed his hand.

"No, leave it," she said. "I love this song."

He sat the remote back down as she got up from the sofa.

"Com'on, dance with me," she said holding her hands out to him.

"Uhm, cripple here," he said pointing to his leg.

She sucked her teeth. "I've seen you dance plenty of times after you had your surgery, I'm not asking you to do the Charleston." He just stared at her apprehensively. "Humor me," she added with a smile that melted his heart.

He cursed himself for not being able to break away from the spell that was cast onto him every time he looked into her eyes, and say no as he got up off of the sofa. He wrapped his arms loosely around her waist, a few inches away from her, feeling a little awkward dancing with her again.

"I don't bite you know," she said smiling at him.

"That's too bad," he said.

She just rolled her eyes and stepped closer to him, giving him no other choice but to wrap his arms more tightly around her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his allowing the side of their faces to touch. She closed her eyes as the words started to flow from the speakers.

**_I've tried my best, for so long  
To break down these walls, but you build them strong  
So I stand here waiting, wondering, why? Oh why?  
Why you don't give a little bit?  
Break down and give a little bit  
Show some emotion, open…  
Open your heart  
Set free an ocean  
Only a feeling can save us now_**

She raised her head off of his shoulders and looked into his eyes, wanting to face the person responsible for the emotions the song evoked in her. He had no other choice, but to look down into the same beautiful eyes that had gotten him off of the sofa in the first place. They continued to stare into each others eyes as the song continued.

**_You say you've been hurt, well you're not alone  
As you race through this life, what you keep to yourself  
Can turn you to stone  
All it would take, is one kind word, to be heard  
Come on and give a little bit  
Try to forgive a little bit  
Show some emotion, open…  
Open your heart  
Set free an ocean  
Only a feeling can save us now_**

He took one arm from around her waist and bought his hand to her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb, never breaking eye contact. She put her hand on his wrist and started to caress the hand that was caressing her face as she nuzzled into his touch. He started to lean down, bringing his face closer to hers. Her lips parted slightly as she stood on her toes to meet him half way. Their lips barely brushed up against each others, and they hesitated, looking into each other's eyes once more, as if asking for permission, before he captured her lips with his. She moved her hand from his wrist to the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair as the kiss became more passionate and intense.

**_Show some emotion, open  
Open your heart  
Set free an ocean  
Only a feeling can save us now_**

The song had gone off, but they were still wrapped in each others arms, only coming up to breathe when needed, before quickly letting their tongues intertwine again.

"Awweessome," they heard an excited voice coming from the entrance of the living room.

Both of their heads quickly snapped towards the archway.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Logan said. "I didn't mean to interrupt; I just came down to get something to eat."

They still just stared at him, both of their mouths still hanging open.

"You know Izzy can sleep in my bed tonight," he said with a huge smile on his face. "You know if you want her…I'll just go get her and put her in my bed."

The boy left the archway and they heard his voice one more time. "Yes!!! He is so outta here," he said obviously referring to Brian.

At that realization Cuddy stepped away from House, making him release his hold on her. He just stared at her as she toyed with the ring on her finger. He took the hint, realizing that the kiss didn't mean one thing or another. Well it did mean something, but it wasn't a final decision.

"I should probably go," he told her. She still didn't look up or answer. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she said quietly.

* * *

**A/N: This story has about fourteen more chapters after this one, but I have already started working on a prequel to it. **


	39. Chapter 39

She crawled into her bed still contemplating what had just happened between her and House. The battle between her heart and her head had peaked in intensity, and each was pulling at her with equal force. She felt soon her heart would win the battle, but whatever she decided, she had to decide quickly. If she was going to be with Brian, she couldn't be around House as much as she was now, and have these random moments of passion. She couldn't cheat on Brian…anymore than she already had anyway. If she was going to try and be with House, she had to let Brian go. But who said House wanted to be with her. Yeah, he had just kissed her, but that was his MO, lead them on then leave them alone, and she knew it all too well. She turned on her back restlessly, frustrated by the dueling thoughts going on in her head. She thought about one of the last encounters she had had with him, before he started working at the hospital.  
***************************************************

_She had just come out of one of the exam rooms in the clinic. It was an unusually slow day, but she didn't mind helping out in the clinic, especially since her name was in the running to become the next Dean of Medicine once Dr. Lewis retired. She walked over to the nurses' station to finish filling out the chart on the patient. One of her colleagues walked up to her._

_"This one's asking for you by name," Dr. Miller said holding the file out to her._

_She signed her name at the bottom of the chart, closed it, and tossed it in the bin behind the desk._

_"Well this'll be my last one," she said to him, as they both began to walk towards Exam room 3. "I have to go pick up the kids in a little bit. Stephanie's dad is in the hospital again, so I can't stay late tonight."_

_"Don't worry," he said nudging her gently with his elbow, "I'll cover for you. Maybe it'll help me get on your good side once you become Dean."_

_She blushed a little, "I haven't gotten the job yet."_

_"Well when you do, maybe I can take you and the girls out to celebrate," he said, in his flirty tone._

_"We'll see," she said giving him a smile._

_"How are they anyway?" he asked her again._

_"The kids are fine," she said, "except for the usual yelling and fighting."_

_"Well tell them I said hello," the doctor said about to walk away, "and good luck with that one, he's a little...just call me if you need any help."_

_"Great," she said to herself, "doesn't look like I'm going to get out of here anytime soon."_

_She opened the file, and without looking at the name opened the door to the room._

_"Hi, I'm Dr…" she froze when she looked up and saw the man sitting on the exam table with a familiar brown haired woman standing next to him. She just stared at him, her mouth open but she was too shocked to let the rest of her words come out. Her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest, and her stomach felt like it was full of butterflies. So many conflicting feelings came rushing back to her, good and bad, love and hate, sadness and anger. "I'm sorry," she started again looking from the man to the woman then back again. "I don't think I should handle this case," she said turning to leave out of the room. "I'll go get…"_

_"No, Lisa please," the man said hopping off of the table, obviously in pain. He had grabbed her arm causing her to stop and look at him. The other woman in the room was by his side quickly to give him the physical support to stand if he needed it. "I need you," he continued. "I need your help. These idiots can't figure out what's wrong with me. My leg's been hurting me like hell for the past three days, and nobody can come up with a reasonable explanation as to why. I can't take it any more, I need you to figure out what's wrong with me."_

_"We drove all the way here and passed three hospitals on the way," the other woman started. "He said that he had to come to this hospital, he wanted you as his doctor. He's been in serious pain for the last few days and I honestly don't know what to do anymore."_

_"Lisa please," he said, calling her attention back to him. She stared into his eyes for a moment trying to sort out what she should do. A part of her was telling her to run like hell and get as far away from him as she could, another part telling her she couldn't bare to leave him in pain like this without doing everything she could to help him, and yet another part, the professional part, telling her to put all the personal baggage aside and do her job…and that's what she did._

_"Help me get him back to the table," she told the other woman._

0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

_They were about to get him prepped for surgery, and she was on her way to his room to check up on him, but stopped when she saw him and the woman talking. The same woman who's picture she had saw the night she had last talked to or seen of him, the woman she had met only a couple of times prior to that night. She watched them for a while, the way they interacted with each other, the way he talked to her, the way he looked at her. She was in love with him…and he was in love with her. She couldn't stand the sight of him looking at another woman like that, the way he used to look at her. It was all too much for her, she felt a few tears coming to her eyes and was about to turn and leave when his blue eyes locked onto hers. This made her fight harder to successfully fight the tears back. The weak smile that he had managed through the pain faded when he saw her. The other woman looked her way after seeing the look on his face._

_"Stacy, can you give us a minute," he said. The woman kissed him on the lips and smiled at Lisa as she exited out of the room._

_"Hey," he said after a few moments of awkward silence._

_"Hey," she replied quietly walking closer to his bed. She stopped when she reached the foot of his bed._

_"I know what you're thinking and it's not like that, well it wasn't" he said, trying to force a smile through the pain._

_She just looked at him, with a serious face._

_"I didn't lie to you," he told her. "When I first moved in with her, we were just friends. I needed somewhere to stay."_

_"What about now?" she asked hesitantly and cursed herself as soon as the words passed her lips. She didn't want him to know that she cared about what was going on between the two of them._

_"Now?" he said reluctantly. "We were real good friends back during my residency. Being under the same roof…things kinda got a little serious. We started dating, and I... just never moved out. "_

_She looked down to the floor, and after a few moments, "Are you in love with her?"_

_He looked away, not wanting to answer, because he knew the answer wasn't the one she wanted to hear. So he just sucked it up and said it. "Yes."_

_He saw her close her eyes and her shoulders sunk a little. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw a tear sliding down her cheek. "Lisa that doesn't me…," he was cut off by one of the nurses coming into the room._

_"Ready Dr. House?" she asked, walking over to the bed.  
He didn't answer, he just watched as Lisa turned her back and wiped away her tears before walking out of the room._  
**********************************

'What are you doing Lisa?' the logical side of her said. 'You are setting yourself up for a fall again... But you love him.' She took a deep breath giving into the fact that she really wasn't going to get too much sleep that night.  
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

House was back at his apartment going through the same thing. He knew she still had feelings for him and the fact that she had kissed back proved it. The fact that she had kissed back, knowing she was engaged to Brian told him that whatever she felt for him was stronger than whatever she felt for her fiancé. He raised his hand up to inspect the silver object he was toying with his fingers. He didn't want to hurt her again, but with the recent developments he knew he was hurting her by the simple act of pushing her away. He knew no matter what he would always love her. And no matter what he said or did she would always love him. He inspected the ring one more time, and thought back to how she had been there for him after the surgery.  
************************************************************

_He threw the glass at the wall, shattering it, after swallowing the pill that he knew would offer him no relief to the pain he was feeling. He laid back on the bed and clenched his teeth as another pain shot through his leg. Stacy had left, and he had nobody else to call, well nobody he was willing to call anyway. He would have called Wilson, but he didn't want anyone taking pity on him. He could have called her, but he knew she felt guilty, and if there was anything he wanted less than pity, it was guilty pity. He felt he didn't deserve her help anyway, no matter what she felt she had did to him and his leg. He had hurt her enough and took this as his consequence for hurting her so badly. He still remembered the look on her face when he had told her that he was in love with Stacy, but he couldn't lie to her. He also wanted to tell her that he still loved her, but he didn't get the chance. He loved them both. He and Stacy had been attracted to each other since they had first met, but he was also attracted to Lisa. He could have had a relationship with either of the women if he'd wanted to. He hadn't made any commitments to either at the time, but he had to follow his heart. He had chosen Lisa over Stacy, he loved her more, he fell in love with her more easily. He knew that it didn't seem that way from where she was standing. He knew she saw it as him choosing Stacy over her and the girls, but that wasn't true. He didn't want to hurt Stacy either, because he did love her. But a relationship with her wouldn't leave any collateral damage when he'd eventually mess it up and start being an ass…there would be no children involved._

_The sound of someone knocking at the front door woke him from his thoughts. He didn't bother moving, he hoped they would go away soon. His hopes went unanswered. The knocking just grew louder and more persistent. 'Don't they know I'm a cripple now,' he said to himself, grabbing the cane from the side of his bed. He grimaced with every step as he slowly made his way down the hall._

_"I'm coming," he barked as he got closer to the door. This made whoever was on the other side of the door stop knocking immediately.  
He unlocked the door and took the chain off. He was speechless when his eyes met with the steel blues staring back at him. He just stared at her with a confused look, probably making her uncomfortable, because she looked away._

_"Can I come in?" she said quietly, looking back up at him._

_He just moved to the side, allowing her to enter. Another sharp pain shooting through his leg reminded him of why she was there. He bent over a little and rubbed his leg letting the pain register on his face. She was by his side instantly, holding on to his arm._

_"Are you okay?" she asked with concern in her voice._

_"No. I'm not okay," he unintentionally yelled at her. "I'm in pain. And those god damned pills those moron doctors prescribed for me aren't doing anything."_

_"I'm sorry, I wasn't there when they wrote the prescription. I had to go get the gir…" she caught herself mid-sentence, "I had to go take care of something. But," she continued walking over to her purse she had sat down on the sofa along with her coat and another bag. "I brought you this."  
She pulled out a bottle of pills._

_"What are those?" He questioned._

_"Vicodin," she told him. "Wilson and I talked about it, and we think they will help relieve the pain."_

_"Great," he said sarcastically. "Now he's going to want to come over here. We can all have one big pity party on my account."_

_"Let me get you some water," she said ignoring his last statement.  
She returned from the kitchen and walked over to the couch where he had currently taken up residence. She handed the glass of water to him, and he just glared up at her._

_"Thanks," he said snarkily, and took the glass from her,"but I don't need your pity."_

_"There is a difference between pity and concern, you know," she told him as she sat on the arm of the chair next to the sofa._

_She watched as he took one of the pills from the bottle and popped it into his mouth. He washed it down with the water and looked at her ungratefully._

_"There, you did your good deed for the day," he told her standing up to try and make it back to his bedroom. "Now you can go and let your conscious be free."_

_He tried to walk back to the bedroom, but one more pain shot through his leg. Again, she was quickly to his side._

_"It'll take a few minutes for the pill to kick in," she said helping him into the bed room. After helping him sit on the bed, she looked around the room and saw how much of a mess it was._

_"What the hell have you been doing in here?" she asked him, picking up the largest piece of the broken glass that he had broken before she had knocked on the door_

_"I'm sorry," he said. "I haven't got around to cleaning up. I just had surgery to get some of my leg muscles removed…At least that's what I hear anyway…I don't know, I was completely unconscious when everything happened."_

_"Alright I get," she told him. "I'm sorry, I should've tried harder to stop her, but there was nothing I could do…for god's sakes. What was I supposed to do, tie her up and put her in a closet until your pain stopped?"_

_"Yes Lisa," he yelled. "That's exactly what you were supposed to do. You're a doctor, she's a lawyer…there's a reason I came to you, and didn't just stay home and let her take care of me until it was all better."_

_"Well you gave her the rights to make all of the decisions. I didn't really have a say in the matter. What was the reason for making her your medical proxy?" she asked him. He just looked away from her. He knew not to take the question at face value._

_She decided not to push the conversation any further, and left the room. She came back with a broom, and cleaned up the glass fragments that were scattered about the floor._

_"Have you eaten?" she asked breaking the silence that had consumed the apartment, since their little yelling contest had ended._

_"Not hungry," he said, simply._

_"Well you have to eat something," she said walking out of the room._

_She went into the fridge and saw that it was full of fresh food.  
'At least she's not completely cold hearted,' she thought to herself, after seeing Stacy had stocked the fridge before she left. She pulled out a few items and started to make dinner. She couldn't believe that she had left him. Wilson had called and told her what had happened. He was away at a conference so he couldn't come to check on him. She knew he was alone and still in pain, physically and emotionally. She had went home after she had gotten off from work, packed an overnight bag, and came to his apartment._

_Just as the food was finishing, he came hobbling into the kitchen sulkily. She saw that his limp had gotten a little better and she hadn't heard anymore crashes coming from the bedroom so she assumed the medicine had a better affect on him than the other pills. They must have really worked because, he filled a glass with water and popped another one._

_"You should eat something," she said seriously._

_"Haven't I been through enough," he told her jokingly. "Now I have to eat your cooking too."_

_She smiled and began fixing him a plate of food as he sat down to the table. She sat across from him watching him, as if she was planning on force feeding him if he didn't eat. He raised the fork to his mouth, but stopped before he let the food pass his lips._

_He eyed her curiously, "Did you put poison in this?"_

_She rolled her eyes. "Why do you think I would try to poison you?"_

_"Well I don't see you eating," he told her. "Or is it that you can't stomach your own coo…"_

_"If I wanted to poison you, I would have laced the pills," she told him._

_"So you have thought about it?" he asked._

_"No, but I will be if you don't shut up and eat," she told him._

_He started to devour the food on his plate, being able to think about something other than pain for the first time in the last few months. She really wasn't a bad cook, he just liked teasing her. She got up and packed the rest of the food in containers, put them in the refrigerator and waited for him to finish eating. When he was done, she took his plate and went over to the sink to wash it._

_"Thanks," he said getting up to leave the kitchen. "You can show yourself out."_

_"I'm staying the weekend, until Wilson gets back," she said not turning away from the sink._

_"I don't need a twenty four hour baby si…,"_

_"I'm staying," she told him firmly, closing the subject._

_They both knew that he wasn't going to kick her out, so if she were to leave, it would have to be on her own accord._

_"Don't you have to go home and uhh…," he said, not finishing the statement. He didn't think he could let it pass his lips.  
_

_"They're spending the weekend with Stephanie," she told him, her back still turned to him._

_He didn't say anything else, as he turned around and returned to his bedroom._  
***********************************************************

He sighed, as he rolled over and sat the ring on the nightstand, next to his alarm clock. He knew what he wanted, what he needed, and he wouldn't try to fight it anymore. That's not to say that he was going to go out and just grab it, but he wasn't going to push her away anymore. It was still her decision. If she chose Brian, he would just have to try to live with that. If she chose him, even better, he could definitely live with that.


	40. Chapter 40

* * *

"Hey, Jen," Cuddy said picking up the phone off of her desk with a huge smile on my face. "I haven't heard form you in a while. How are you? How's Ben and the kids?"

She hadn't talk to her sister in a few months. She felt bad about it because she was actually one of the few people from her family that she had a good relationship with. Her sister was what her parents would call the good child. She had done everything that they had wanted for both their daughters. She was a homemaker and was married young to a very successful surgeon, who her parents had fallen in love with. She had given them grandkids early…well so had she, but not under the set of circumstances they had provided. Her sister and her husband were the only ones who had tried to support her relationship with House when they were dating and her sole support from her family after they had found out about Hayden. Her and her sister used to be one in the same, but they had somehow managed to tame and brainwash her sister and got her to become what they would call the perfect daughter. She still had a little bit of rebelliousness in her though, hence her close relationship with Lisa.

"They're fine, everyone's fine," her sister said. "How are my nieces?"

"They're fine, " she told her. "Just trying to survive these crazy teen years."

"Tell me about," her sister said. "Don't forget, I've got one myself."

"Yeah, well try three," she said.

"Oh, are Samantha's kids still staying with you?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Well that's good," her sister replied. "I know the last time we talked you told me their grandfather had passed and their grandmother wasn't in the greatest health. I'm glad you could be there for them."

"Yeah me too," she said sadly.

"I've been trying to call you lately" Jennifer started again, "but you're hardly ever home, and every time I call the hospital they say you're out of your office."

"Well things have been kinda crazy lately around the hospital, and home too," she added.

"Well I know you and Brian aren't having trouble, so what did the kids do?" she asked.

"They didn't do anything, well out of the usual anyway," Cuddy told her, a little confused. "How do you know me and Brian aren't having problems?"

"That's why I called you," Jen started again, "to give you a heads up. I didn't figure you were having any problems since Brian called Mom and Dad and invited them down for a surprise visit."

"He did what!" Cuddy yelled making her assistant quickly turn around to look at her through the glass doors. "What? Why would he do that without asking me first? I don't want my parents coming to my house, it'll be a disaster."

"I know that and you know that, but clearly Brian doesn't," Jen told her. "Don't be mad at him Lise, he thought he was doing something good."

"He doesn't even know them," she told her sister.

"I know," she returned. "That's probably why he thought it was a good idea." She laughed a little.

"This isn't funny Jen," Cuddy told her, still trying to figure out how to get around or if all else fails get through the weekend with her parents.

"I'm sorry," she said trying to stop her laughter. "But look at the bright side…whatever he sold them they bought it. They sound like they really like him. They can't wait to meet him."

"He must have gotten the number from my phone," she mumbled, still trying to figure out how this could be happening.

"Lisa calm down," her sister said. "You're making it worst than it is."

She knew Jennifer was right, but her parents made her that way. They had scrutinized her so much about her choices, which seemed to always deviate from their plans for her, that the thought of them being around for the weekend made her anxious and nervous. 'Well at least they like Brian,' she thought to herself.

"Look I know you have to get back to work, so I'll let you go," Jen started. "Their plane's arriving tomorrow afternoon. Try to relax and I know they are going to drive you crazy so call me if you need to talk, even if it's just to scream."

"Okay, thanks Jen," she told her.

"No problem Lise," she said. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said before placing the phone back in its cradle.

She sat and thought about what the weekend was going to bring. She couldn't call her parents and tell them not to come, that would be rude and they would want an answer as to why. There was nothing else to do, but to suck it up and face what was to come. She would have to face her father's constant badgering of her working too much and not spending all of her time taking care of her family. They would think the kids were out of control. They were some of the most outspoken and unyielding kids she had ever come across, and her parents strongly believed in strictly disciplined, well behaved children. But she didn't want to raise her kids that way. She wanted them to have a mind of their own and test their boundaries, all though they sometimes pushed her too far, she was happy with the way her kids were coming out…'All four of them,' she smiled to herself. The thought was quickly replaced by the thought of her parents' visit again. Then she thought about how all this had come about. 'What the hell was Brian thinking?'

She picked up the phone again to find out just that.

"Hello?"

"Why did you invite my parents here without asking me first?" she asked angrily.

"Wh…" he stumbled. " I didn't think it would be a problem."

"That's the problem Brian," she said, "you didn't think."

"Lisa, I'm sorry," he offered. "I thought it would be nice for you to see your parents. You never see or talk to them, and I've never met them. I just thought it would be good for me to meet them, seeing as we're getting married. But if it's a problem, I'll call and tell them not to come." He said sounding dejected.

This made her feel bad for yelling at him. "No, Brian. I'm sorry. You were just trying to do something nice. I shouldn't have yelled at you. You don't have to call and cancel. I just wish you would have told me so I would have had more time to prepare for this." 'Or stop you,' she thought.

"So you're not mad at me?" He questioned.

"No," she told him.

"Good," he started. "And don't worry, I'll be on my best behavior. I promise."

She smiled. It wasn't his behavior she was worried about. "I know you will."

"I'll see you tonight when I get home," he told her.

"Alright, see you then."

"I love you."

"I…I love you too."

She hung up the phone and sighed. 'How am I going to make it through this weekend?' She could barely finish her thoughts before her office doors swung open.

"What's wrong with you?" House started. "Find out Samson's cheating on you with his hottest employee?...That's funny, I never thought you would be so hypocritical."

"My parents are coming to visit this weekend," she told him ignoring his last statement. She knew that he would understand everything from that one sentence.

"Oh," he said. "I'm sorry...So I guess that means I'm not invited to dinner."

She smiled at him. Actually, she wished that she could invite him. That way she would have someone to be on her team when she went head up with her parents. But she knew his presence would only make the situation worse, in more ways than one.

"So I am invited?" he asked noticing the smile on her face.

"No," she told him. "You're not invited. In fact it would be a huge help if you could just stay away this weekend."

"Aww com'on," he told her. "Your parents love me."

"My parents hate you," she replied.

"Well let me know what they think of Bart," he told her turning to walk out of her office. "Then I'll have something to base my self worth on. If they like him, I'll know I'm on the right track."

She smiled again as he walked out of the office. Then she realized that he had forgotten to tell her the reason he had come to her office…unless it wasn't work related. Her smile grew wider when she realized he had just stopped by to pay her a visit. Which he usually did a lot, but this time he hadn't bothered to piss her off in the process.

* * *

"Okay," she said. "I really need you guys to be on your best behaviors tonight. Please."

"Don't worry mom," Hayden started. "We're not going to do anything to embarrass you. We'll act snooty just like you asked."

"I still don't understand why we have to wear these clothes," Logan said pulling at his tie. "I miss my jeans and my t-shirt."

"They're just back up," she told him.

"Yeah, just in case we get a little wild and ruin the dinner, the clothes will draw their attention away from it."

"Exactly," Cuddy said.

"I didn't mean for you to agree with me," Madison told her.

Cuddy turned around quickly when she heard Brian's voice coming from the foyer.

"Remember what I said," she said turning around to inspect the children once more.

Logan was still fidgeting with his tie, Madison just gave her a fake smile and a sarcastic thumbs up, Isabella was toying with her dress and had flipped it up enough so that her undies were showing, and Hayden had a 'just shoot me' look on her face. She went over and pulled the little girl's dress back down.

"God help me," she mumbled to herself before walking out of the room. She paused before stepping into the foyer. She put on a fake smile and dove in.

"Mom, Dad, it's good to see you," she said walking over and hugging her mother.

"Oh Lisa," her mother said hugging her back. "I haven't seen you in so long. I've missed you sweetie."

"I've missed you too mom," she said a little taken back by her mother's words.

They were the one that had shut her out, so it was a surprise to hear this. She let go of her mother only to be pulled into a hug by her father. This really shocked her, her dad had practically disowned her.

"Hi daddy," she said trying to still wrap her head around the unexpected greetings.

"You could've called us sooner and told us that you were getting married sweetie," her dad said smiling at her. Hince the reason behind his actions.

"I didn't think you would want to know," she told him.

"Nonsense," he said. "Brian's a fine fellow. I see you finally took our advice and found someone who's actually worth your time."

She heard her mother gasp, as she put her hand over her heart.

"Are those my grandbabies?"

"Who's she calling a baby?" Madison whispered to Hayden.

"I don't know. Why is she acting all giddy? We don't even know her?"

Cuddy gave them the death look. Of course no one heard them, but she saw their lips moving, and she knew they weren't saying anything nice.

"Come here and let me look at you," she said walking over to the kids.

She hugged Madison and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You've grown so much, Madison."

The girl had to catch herself, she wanted to ask the woman had she seen her when she was little. Because it was kind of awkward to her for someone to say that when they hadn't seen the person when they were smaller to know how much they'd grown. Instead she just put on a forced smile.

"Hayden," the sound of her oldest daughter's name, made Cuddy's heart skip a beat. She had seen the look on Madison's face and could only imagine what was going through Hayden's mind. She just hoped she could keep it there as Madison had. "I haven't seen you since you were a baby."

The girl's mouth open, but she looked to Cuddy, and caught herself at the last minute. "It's nice to see you." The woman just pulled her into a hug.

"Brian are those your kids?" her father asked him.

"Pffff," Logan let out a sarcastic laugh. "I'd lock myself in my room and cry until someone put me out of my misery," he finished quietly. But everyone still heard him.

"No," Brian said, glaring at the boy.

"That's Logan," Cuddy corrected. "He's staying with us right now."

"My name's Izzy," the little girl said smiling up at the lady.

"Isabella," Cuddy quickly corrected, figuring the name 'Izzy' would be too rebellious for her parents.

"Oh aren't you just the cutest little thing," the woman said pinching her cheek. "My name's Anne. Are you staying with Lisa also?"

The girl just nodded.

"Well dinner is ready, lets eat. Then we can talk some more later," Cuddy said, getting anxious. She felt the tension in the room growing and knew that someone, most likely her father or Brian was about to say something to make everything go down hill. "You guys can go into the dinning room and I'll bring the food out."

"I'll help you," her mother said following her, not being able to resist being in the kitchen helping with the food.

They all went into the dinning room and soon Cuddy and Anne were making their way out of the kitchen with the food. After bringing all of the food to the table, the two joined the rest around the table. Brian and Cuddy's father sat at the ends of the table, while Logan, Hayden, and Madison occupied the three chairs on one side. Cuddy sat next to Brian and her mother next to her father, with Isabella between them. They ate in silence for a while. They all felt a little awkward and hoped someone would start a conversation. Unfortunately for the kids, someone started the wrong conversation.

"So Brian," Cuddy's Father spoke up, "tell me more about that construction building you were talking about on the way over."

Logan's head fell back as he looked up at the ceiling. He raised his hands as if asking 'why me?'. Hayden's motion was opposite as she leaned forward and smacked her hand to her forehead. Madison snickered deciding to fine some humor in it all before she was forced to become painfully bored by the conversation that was about to ensue. Cuddy glared at them all, but Brian decided to continue the discussion anyway. Luckily Brian had told most of what was to be told in the car, and finished up rather quickly. Her father was about to ask another question, but her mother stepped in, a little bored with the business talk herself.

"Oh Bill," she said. "No one wants to talk business. This is a family dinner, let's talk about something everyone can enjoy." She turned to Cuddy. "Lisa, how did you and Brian meet?"

Brian took it upon himself to tell the story. Logan leaned over to Hayden. "Is it me are does this guy suck all of the air out of the room?" he whispered so the discussing adults couldn't hear them.

"We're not that lucky," she replied. "At least with most of the air gone, we'd be unconscious and wouldn't have to listen to this crap."

"I hear ya," he said. "I'm about to start breaking bones over her, just to draw the attention away from this painful conversation."

Hayden quickly turned and looked at Madison who was nudging her on her arm. She just kept her eyes on her plate and motioned across the table to Cuddy, who was shooting daggers at the boy and the girl. The other adults seemed to be so wrapped up in the conversation that they didn't notice. They both straightened up and started to eat what was left of their food.

"Well I tell you one thing," Bill started. "You're much better than that other asshole she met in college."

"That's our dad you're talking about," Madison said sitting up in her chair defensively.

"Well," Bill started, but was stopped when Anne placed her hand on his elbow. She knew whatever the man was about to say would not be nice.

"Lisa, how did Logan and Isabella end up living with you?" Anne asked trying to change the subject.

Cuddy began talking as Hayden leaned over and grabbed Madison's hand and squeezed it a little.

"Relax Maddie," she said. "This guy's just as big a jerk as Brian. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

She squeezed her sister's hand as the girl sat back in her chair, letting down her guards a little. They were both turned from their side conversation, by the sound of Bill's voice again.

"Tell me Lisa," he started, "do you think it's wise to have a teenage boy living in the house with your two teenage daughters? I wouldn't trust the situation if it were me."

"Well luckily it's not you," Logan said, offended by the man's insinuations.

"Look boy, I'm just looking out for the well being of my granddaughters," Bill countered. "I'm just trying to make sure that they don't get taken advantage of by some hormonal teenage boy."

"I would never do something like that, I don't even think of them that way," Logan said raising his voice to meet Bill's tone. "Hayden and Maddie are like my sisters. I've known them since we were little kids."

"Yeah, well you're not little kids anymore," Bill said.

"Just a few weeks ago he coaxed them into lying for him," Brian added.

"Lisa I don't think this boy shou…" Bill tried, but she cut him off.

"Alright, that's enough," she said raising her voice above theirs. "I'm not going to sit here and let the both of you talk about him like this. Logan is living with me, he is my responsibility and I know him better than either of you do, so I would appreciate it if you two would act like adults and stop ganging up on him." She glared at both of the men and dared them to say another word. Hayden just rubbed Logan's arm as the boy looked down at the leftover food on his plate.

"Lisa, the little one I can see," her father pushed on again. "But it seems like this boy is a delinquent. He's not you're responsibility, you don't have to let him live here. He's an unkempt boy," the man continued referring to the boys longer than accepted blonde locks that were starting to curl slightly at the ends. "He's a juvenile delinquent,…"

"I'm outta here," Logan said standing up and walking out of the dinning room.

* * *

**A/N: Hoped you liked. Comments Please?**


	41. Chapter 41

"You condescending bastard," she said standing up and looking at her father.

"Lisa," her mother tried, shocked by her daughters outward reaction.

"If you don't like the way I run my household you can get the hell out," she finished.

She walked out of the dinning room to go behind the boy, she caught him in the foyer.

"Logan," she called to him, after seeing him grab his car keys from the table in the hall.

He didn't turn around he just kept walking. She quickened her pace, and caught up to him at the car.

"Logan you don't have to go," she told him grabbing his arm and turning him around to her. "This is your home and you don't have to leave if you don't want to."

He stared at her for a while then looked back at the house. "Naw, I wanna leave. I can't be in the same house with both of them. Plus I don't want to mess up your nice family dinner."

"Logan you are as much a part of my family as anyone else in there is," she told him.

"Until you marry Brian."

"We've discussed that already," she told him. "You know what the deal is. He knows what the deal is. If he wants me, he has to accept you guys." The boy just nodded. "So are you gonna stay for the rest of dinner?"

"Naw," he said looking back at the house. "I need to get away, blow off some steam," he smiled at her.

She passed a loving hand across his face and stared at him, as a tear rolled down her face. "I'm sorry for what happened in there."

"It's not your fault that you just so happened to have the kings of asses sitting around your table at the same time," he told her.

"How did you and Hayden get such foul mouths," she said before pulling him into a hug. "Be careful," she warned once again as he got into the car and left.

When she got back into the dinning room, Hayden and Madison had already excused themselves and had taken Isabella along with them. She silently wished she could join them, but unfortunately she had to be the adult in the situation and entertain their rude guests.

* * *

House opened the front door of his apartment building and tiredly limped over to his front door. He had just come home from the hospital. His patient was stabilized, his team was running more tests, and Foreman was instructed to call him if anything came up. Before he could open the door, he heard music coming from his stereo.

** No I'm not color blind, I know the world is black and white  
Try to keep an open mind but… I just can't sleep on this tonight  
Stop this train, I wanna get off, and go home again  
I can't take the speed its moving and, I know I can't  
But honestly, won't someone stop this train. **

House cautiously unlocked the door, not sure if he should be afraid of whomever the John Mayer fan was awaiting him on the other side of the door. He opened the door and walked into the living room to see Logan sitting on the sofa with his guitar, playing along to the CD.

"You runaway from home, and this is the first place you decide to come," he said making the boy look up at him, "that's odd. I never thought of this place to be inviting to teenage refugees. How'd you get in here?"

"Picked the lock," the boy replied turning off the stereo.

"Of course." he replied.

"Sorry about that, but I had to go somewhere and that house was not an option," Logan continued.

"What happened? You and Gabe get into it again?" he asked.

"That guy's a prick," the boy replied.

"We haven't used that one before," House said. "I like it."

"I can't live with him," he said.

"You'll learn to," House told him, walking to the kitchen. "Believe me I did."

"What do you mean?" the boy yelled behind him.

"My mother married and even bigger prick than that guy," he told him. "And I had to live with him for eighteen years. You've only got two years, so I think you can manage."

He walked back into the living room with a beer bottle and a glass filled with what looked like beer.

"Beer?" he said handing it to the boy.

"Yeah," Logan said getting excited. He took the glass and started drinking its contents. His face frowned up. "This is apple juice."

"Really?" House acted surprise. "Mine tastes like beer."

The boy gave him a disapproving look and started the conversation back up.

"So your dad," the boy started, "what happened between you two?"

"Nothing," House told him. "He denied me as a son, I denied him as a father. We never talked, always argued. He wanted me to do one thing, I intentionally did the other…That about sums up my relationship with him."

"Sounds rough," the boy said. They dropped the conversation for a while and let the sound of the television consumed their silence.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," the boy started after a while, "but if your relationship with your dad wasn't that great, how could you just up and leave Hayden and Madison like you did? Usually people would like to try and rectify in their kids' lives the wrong from their lives. You don't have to answer, if you don't want to. Just something I was thinking about."

"I thought I was rectifying the wrong by leaving," he answered sullenly.

"And where'd you get that dumb idea from?" the boy asked with a slight chuckle.

House felt a slight smile tug at the corners of his lips. He really liked talking to the boy, he was very blunt with his opinions, a quality that was hard to find in people these days.

"My dad," he said answering the boy's question. "He told me that I would be a terrible father and that I would always be miserable."

"So why are you letting him control you?" the boy asked. House just stared at the boy. "Well I'm not saying you're miserable…well you're not as miserable as you were when I first saw you in the hospital. But you are still a little bit miserable. You didn't seem miserable until you left."

House continued to look at the boy, contemplating his words. "Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" Logan continued. "It's obvious she likes you too. And that way you can have it all, plus stick it to your dad…and I get the pleasure of watching Brian's face shatter."

A contemplative "Hmph," was House's only reply.

He sat and watched the television a little while longer before getting up from the sofa and going to bed, leaving the boy an open invitation to crash on the couch if he needed to.

* * *

"Lisa I didn't mean to upset you, but I hope you will give some thought to what I sai…"

"And I hope you give some thought to what I said." She told her father. "You don't have to be here if you don't want to dad. No one's making you stay."

"Lisa, your father is just trying to tell you what I've been saying all along," Brian tried.

"And I'm just telling him what I've been telling you all along," she retorted.

"Lisa, you can't expect Brian to be a father to your kids, plus some random kids you've taken in off of the streets," her father told her.

"First of all _DAD_," she started. "They are not kids off of the streets. They're my… I love them like they are mine, and that's all that matters. Their mother, who happened to be a dear friend of mine, and who was there for me when I needed her, more than you ever were are tried to be, is not here anymore. I promised her I would take care of them, so in my heart they are my kids. Second I'm not asking Brian to be a father to anyone. My children already have a father."

"Really?" her dad said smugly.

"Yes really," she told him sternly, letting him know his arrogance wasn't getting to her.

"You see the uncalled for tension those kids br…," Brian tried, but she cut him off.

"You guys can have this conversation amongst yourselves." she said getting up from the table. "I'm going to go apologize to my kids for making them feel like they had to impress you, when clearly they are the morally superior between the two groups of people in this house."

She walked out of the room leaving the three adults in silence. She went into her bedroom and saw that Isabella was sound asleep. She knew that meant Hayden nor Madison were in their rooms, so she headed out to the backyard. She saw the girls lying on the huge trampoline that sat in the middle of the yard, with Trouble lying between them.

"Where's Logan?" Hayden asked when she saw Cuddy walk up to the edge of the trampoline.

"He went to take a ride," she told her, petting the dog's head. "He'll be back later."

"So who won the yelling match?" Madison asked her.

"I don't know," she started. "I kinda left them to battle it out on their own." She studied their faces as they looked up at the moon. She smiled as she remembered them chasing the moon when they were younger, something House had invinted to keep them occupied and quiet, but something that also grew to be very special to them. "I'm sorry that you guys had to see that."

"I'm sorry your dad's an as...," Hayden caught herself after seeing the way Cuddy was looking at her.

Her mother interrupted their conversation when she opened the door to the backyard and peeped out.

"Lisa," she started shyly. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Sure," she said walking over to her mother. "Don't stay out here too long," she yelled back to the girls.

"What is it mom?" she asked walking into the kitchen.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," her mother said.

"But?" she questioned waiting for the negative part of the statement.

"There's no but," her mother continued. "I know how infuriating your father can be, especially to someone with a personality as strong as yours. He had no right to say what he said, and I admire you for sticking up for yourself, and your family."

"Wow," she said shocked by her mother's words. "You admire me? I'd never thought I'd hear those words coming from you."

"Lisa," her mother said sincerely. "I've always admired you. You are a strong, independent, confident woman with a career and a family. You have everything I've ever wanted, but was to afraid to go after."

"Really?" Her mother just nodded. "Mom I thought you hated the fact that I worked instead of staying home full time with the kids."

"No that's your father," she told her.

Cuddy immediately understood since whatever her father said went in their household ever since she could remember. She actually felt sorry for her mother at that point. She hugged her her.

"Your father and I are going to stay at a hotel for the rest of the weekend," her mother said. "I'll get him out of your hair."

"You don't have to do that," she told her. "Please stay." She really wanted her mother to stay after the new connection they had just made.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Because I can…"

"Stay Mom," she interrupted. "I'm sure."

"Okay," she said. "I wouldn't want to insult you by staying at a hotel. I'll go tell Bill."

"You can stay in Madison's room, she'll sleep in Hayden's," she told her.

As soon as her mother had left the kitchen her father appeared in the doorway.

"That little girl is crying for her mother," he said. "I thought her mother was dead."

"That's what she calls me sometimes," Cuddy said walking towards him. "I've tried to get her to stop, but she still calls me Mommy sometimes. Mostly when she's scared or upset."

"But you're not her mother," he told her, he said with malice in his tone.

"I'm the only one she knows," she glared at him as she left out of the kitchen and proceeded to go to her bedroom where the little girl was.

"Izzy what's wrong sweetie?" she asked sitting on the bed next to the little girl.

She picked her up and sat her in her lap as the little girl continued to cry. She rubbed the little girl's back until she calmed down a little.

"Now can you tell me why you were crying?"

"You're gonna make me go away," she sniffed.

"Go away? What do you mean?"

"You don't want me live wit you anymore," the girl explained.

"Of course I want you to live with me. Why would you think I wouldn't want you to live with me?"

"The two mean mans were talking and they said that I could go to a frosted home. I like frosting, but I don't wanna leave you," she tried as the tears began to come a little harder.

"A foster home?" Cuddy smiled at the semantic mess up.

"Uh-huh. Please don't make me go Mommy," she said throwing herself against Cuddy and wrapping her arms around her neck as she began to sob uncontrollably. "I'll be good I promise."

Cuddy became infuriated. Clearly Isabella had heard her father and Brian talking about something they didn't know anything about. She sat and rocked Isabella and rubbed her back trying to get her to calm down. She tried to explain to the girl, but she was crying too much. She would never give the girl up, she had taken care of her since the day she was born.  
**************************************************************

_"Hey," Cuddy said peeping into the hospital room. "Look what I've got for you?"_

_She walked into the room revealing the little bundle of blankets in her arms. She slowly walked over to the bed where the sickly looking woman lay, almost motionless. The woman had had undiagnosed eclampsia. Their had been an emergency delivery, and fortunately and surprisingly the baby had come out unscathed for the moment being. Hopefully their wouldn't be problems that showed up later. But her mother was less fortunate. She had severe liver and kidney damage._

_"Hey," the woman said weekly._

_She walked closer to the woman's bed and leaned forward a little so the woman could see the baby in her arms. The woman stared at the baby before raising her hands to caress her little hand._

_"I wish I could hold her," she said._

_"You want to?" Cuddy asked._

_"I can't," the woman said sadly. "I'm too weak."_

_"I can help you support her," she said extending the baby to her mother._

_The woman just turned away as tears started to fall from her eyes.  
"Sam?" Cuddy asked concerned. "What's wrong?"_

_She didn't answer right away. "She doesn't ne…," she tired. "I'm going to die."_

_"You don't know that for sure," Cuddy tried. Although she knew she was 99.9% right. It would have been a miracle if she survived. That was the sole reason she had bought the baby up to her. So Samantha could get a chance to see her in case she didn't take her home from the hospital. She hadn't had a chance to see her during the delivery due to the doctors and nurses' rush to stabilize her vitals._

_"Yes I do," she said quietly. "And you know it too."_

_Cuddy just stared at her not being able to say anything for a while. "Sam, you have a beautiful new baby girl…" she tried, but the woman cut her off._

_"No, Lisa," she said. "You have a beautiful new baby girl… I'm not going to be around to raise her. She's never going to know who I am. She needs to bond with you."_

_"I'll tell her about you and show her…" Cuddy tried again._

_"That's all I'm ever going to be to her," the woman told her. "A face on a picture. A face on a picture can't feed her when she cries, or cuddle her when she's scared of the monster under her bed, or…or take her to her first day of school, or eat chunky monkey with her when she gets her first heart break," she said, making them both give a weak laugh through their tears._

_She looked up at the ceiling. "Logan will remember me, but he still has a way to go. He's only twelve. My parent's can't handle raising kids, they can barely take care of themselves. Promise me you'll take care of him Lisa, both of them."_

_She searched the woman's eyes and accepted the fact that she was about to loose her best friend. "I promise," she said quietly._

_"What are you crying for?" she said in a brighter tone, as she tried to lighten the mood. "You love kids, now you've got two more. One a blank sleight and the boy you've always wanted…although he may be a little rambunctious and audacious…sorry about that," she smiled._

_"Don't worry," Cuddy laughed at her joke, "he'll go perfectly with my pair of girls."_

_"With any luck she'll grow up to be just like them," the woman smiled at the sleeping baby in Cuddy's arms. "I guess I'm going to miss out on those teen years we've been looking forward too…but you'll do fine…you're a great mother," she finished sleepily._

_"I'll go bring her back to the nursery," Cuddy started, seeing how tired the woman was becoming, "and let you get some sleep."_

_She walked out of the door and wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. She looked down at the sleeping, oblivious baby and smiled. She put her finger in the baby's palm and she instinctively closed her little fingers around it. 'She forgot to give her a name,' Cuddy thought. Before she could turn to go back in the room, she saw a bunch of doctors and nurses run into Samantha's room with a crash cart. She stood there for a while before she turned again to go to the nursery. She knew that she would never talk to her best friend again. 'Isabella,' she smiled as she tried to focus on what she had just gained, rather than what they had just lost.  
_******************************************************************

"Mom?" Hayden questioned as her and Madison walked in the door. Cuddy looked over to the two girls, jolted from her own thoughts. "Is Izzy okay?"

"Yeah," she said looking down at the little girl who had stopped crying. "She's fine."

"Are you okay?" Hayden asked again, calling her attention to the tears that were falling down her face.

"Yeah," she said wiping a tear from her eyes. She then remembered what had happened and how angry she was with her father and Brian. She had promised her mother that she could stay at her house, but that didn't mean she had to stay. "Go pack a bag," she told them. "We needed to get out of here for the night."

"Where are we going?" Madison asked.

"Who cares?" Hayden asked turning to leave. "As long as it's away from Beavis and Butthole."

Cuddy sat Isabella on the bed, and went to pack a few of their things too.

"Where are we going?" the little girl perked up at the mention of a car ride, as she stood up on the bed.

"We're going to see Dr. House," she said.

"Sweet," the little girl said, mocking her brother, as she jumped up and down on the bed. Obviously more excited by the news.

"But you can't tell anyone," Cuddy told her. "You have to keep it a secret." The last thing she wanted was another confrontation to spoil her clean escape.

"Okay," the little girl said. She put one finger over her lips. "Shhhh."

She finished packing her and Isabella's things and went upstairs to pack a few of Logan's things. She knew that's where he would be, since it was getting late and he hadn't come home yet. They all managed to get past her mother and father, but Brian caught her as she was leaving out the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked her.

"I really can't be around you right now," she started. "I don't _want _to be around you," she emphasized want.

"What do you mean?" he questioned. "You're leaving and your parents are upstairs?"

"I'm sure you and my dad will keep each other good company," she told him. "I'll be back tomorrow," she added walking off.

"Wait, where are you going?" he called after her.

"A hotel," she lied, not wanting to completely crush him.


	42. Chapter 42

House looked at the boy enviously as he slept through the banging on the front door. He continued to walk towards the door as the person kept hitting the door. When he opened the door he was actually kind of surprised to see who was standing on the other side; the girls not so much, but he figured Cuddy would be home catering to her parents. The girls just walked in.

"Seriously, did someone turn my apartment into a homeless shelter," he said sarcastically.

"We have a home," Hayden said tiredly. "We just need some place to crash for the night."

The girls went to the hall closet for blankets then into the living room and he turned back to Cuddy and the little girl she was holding. "You lasted five hours," he told her. "I thought you would at least beat your old record."

"I couldn't take it anymore," she said. "Both of them under one roof is too much."

He motioned for her to come in. "Well don't feel bad," he started. "Your mother and father have that affect on me too."

"Not my mom," she told him. "My dad and Brian."

He just looked at her and nodded. "So can we stay?" she asked.

"I don't care what you do," he said as he started back down the hall towards his bedroom. "As long as you do it quietly so I can get some sleep."

She went into the living room and laid Isabella on top of the blankets Hayden and Madison were lying on. She pulled the covers over the three of them and began to walk to the bathroom with the bag she had walked in with. She walked back to the bedroom and stood in the door. He was lying on his back looking up at the ceiling, and didn't notice her standing there right away. When he did notice her she was staring at him smiling.

"What's are you smiling at?" he asked annoyed.

"I thought you were sleepy?" she asked walking closer to the bed.

"Yeah, well, it's hard to go back to sleep when someone wakes you by banging on the door like they're the police," he told her.

"I understand after the whole ordeal with Tritter," she said poking fun at him. "But we didn't knock that hard."

She walked around to the other side of the bed to get in. He stopped her by resting his arm in the place she was about to lye. She stared at him waiting for an explanation.

"Who told you you could sleep in my bed?" he asked.

"You sleep in my bed all the time," she returned.

"Yeah, but I don't try to take up your entire bed. Unlike you who likes to take up more than your fair share of the bed."

"Move your arm," she commanded. He didn't, so she just lay on top of it. As soon as her head hit the pillow he drew in his arm, bringing her along with it.

"If you wanted to cuddle with me," she started with a smile. "That was all you had to say. You didn't have to make that commotion about me not sleeping in your bed."

"Yeah, you're right," he agreed. "We both knew it wouldn't work. I couldn't keep you out of my bed if I really wanted to." She hit him playfully in the chest and smiled. Her smile soon faded as she thought about how much better she felt just by being with him, as a friend. Something Brian couldn't give her as a friend, lover, and probably husband. She picked up her hand and toyed with the ring on her finger.

"I really thought I'd found the right one," she told him.

"What changed your mind?" House asked her sarcastically. "His disdain for kids, especially the ones who live under the same roof as him? The fact that he's more committed to his job than he is to you? Or is it the lack of sex…,"

"I don't need your criticism right now House," she told him in a firm tone. "It's bad enough I'm engaged to a man I'm not in love with. I shouldn't have said yes. I shouldn't have led him on…What am I going to do?"

"You could just marry him and be miserable for the rest of your life," he suggested, knowing this was not an option for her.

"I could, but I don't think we're going to make it," she said looking from the ring to him. "He can't be the person I need him to be."

He stared back into her steal blue eyes a little caught of guard by what she had just implied to him. He was about to break, but he wasn't ready to reveal himself fully to her just yet. He wanted to say 'Well marry me,' but being the stubborn person that he is, "That's okay. I'm sure Wilson knows some great divorce attorneys."

She smiled at him. "You know you should really lay off of him. At lease he actually made it down the isle once he proposed unlike some people we know."

"Are you ever gonna let that go?" he joked.

"It's already gone," she told him in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then why'd you kiss me?"

"I didn't kiss you," she corrected softly as his face moved closer to hers. "You kissed me."

"Did I?" he whispered as his lips brushed against hers.

"Mmhm," she managed to get out before she felt his lips press against hers. He tightened his grip around her waist bringing her body even closer, his tongue lightly brushed her lips. She parted her lips slightly allowing his tongue excess to hers. They went like this for a few minutes, before she realized that he was lying on top of her tugging at her pajama bottoms.

"Mmmm," she managed to get out pulling her mouth away from his. "Greg stop."

"What? Why?" he asked confused and disappointed. "They won't hear us."

"I'm still engaged to him," she said holding up her hand.

"But you don't wanna be," he told her.

"It doesn't matter," she started. "That doesn't give me the right to cheat on him."

"He doesn't have to know."

"No."

"My god woman," he said rolling off of her. "You're killing me. I don't remember you being this much of a tease before."

"I don't remember you being this much of a sex add…" she stopped as he turned his head to the side to look at her with a smile on his face. "Yes I do."

They laid in silence for a while, him trying to calm the sexual tension that had risen up in him and her contemplating the future of her relationship with Brian. He looked over at her when he saw her bring her hands up to her face. She looked at the ring and smiled as a tear fell down her face. He held his breath as she twirled the ring around her finger.

"I fell in love with the idea not the person." With that she slid the ring off of her finger. She just looked at it in the palm of her hand. He was happy for himself, but sad for her. He could tell that she really had wanted it to work between her and Brian, but he also knew she was right. They would never have made it.

"So when are you going to tell him?" he asked her.

"After my parents leave," she said with a sigh. "Why prolong the inevitable?"

"Yeah, put the man out of his misery, and let him be on his way."

She smiled at him before turning over to put the ring on the nightstand. She then scooted closer to him and put her head on his chest as he intuitively wrapped his arm around her.

"At least the kids will be happy," she said.

"Yeah, and me," he added. She raised her head and looked up at him questioningly. "You won't be in such bad moods at work when he pisses you off," he quickly corrected. She still looked at him questioning if that's what he really meant, before she laid her head back on his chest. "That means I can skip clinic duty," he said cheerily.

"You can't skip clinic duty," she told him closing her eyes as she listened to his heart beat.

After about ten minutes he felt her breathing slow and he knew she was asleep. He too was about to dose off, but he had to go to the bathroom. It just seemed to him that he wasn't going to get any sleep that night. After he had done his business he limped back to the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed and popped a vicodin before lying down. He crawled up behind her, wrapping his arm around her pulling her closer. He felt her relax into him, and took in the scent of the wild curls that tickled his nose. He was about to dose off again when he heard a phone ringing on the night stand behind him. He cursed inwardly as he rolled over onto his back. He reached blindly for the phone and picked up his to see that it was not ringing. He then looked over to the night stand and saw that it was hers. He picked it up and saw her home number on the caller idea. 'What the hell,' he thought. 'She's going to kick him to the curb tomorrow anyway.'

"Hello?"

"Who the hell is this?" he heard a voice deeper than Brian's voice say. A smile instantly came to his face as he recognized the voice and the anger in it that had been directed towards him many times.

"Bill," he said cheerily.

"Who is this?"

"Greg," he said with the smile still plastered on his face.

"Who?" the man said with a little more malice in his voice. House knew the man knew who he was but decided to humor him.

"Greg House," he said, "you remember me. You hated me because your daughter was crazy over me."

"Why are you answering my daughter's phone?"

"Well Bill," he said smugly. "It seems that she still has the hots for me. She's lying in my be…"

He tried, but the man cut him off not wanting to hear anymore. "Let me speak with her," he demanded.

"Bill she's asleep," he said knowing that the man hated when he called him Bill. "I think all the strenuous events of the night wore her out," leaving the sentence open to interpretation.

"I don't believe you," the man told him.

"What?"

"I don't believe you," he repeated. "My daughter is not with you. She would never be so foolish as to even associate with you after what you did to her."

"Okay Bill," he said. "I'll wake her up, but I don't think she'll like it." He put the phone next to Cuddy's face and whispered her name.

"Lise wake up," he said sure that Bill could hear. "Your father wants to speak with you."

She didn't move, so he shook her a little. She stirred a little, but didn't open her eyes. He bought his mouth to her neck and kissed it before gently biting and sucking on it.

"Greg stop," she moaned out tiredly. He pulled his mouth away from her making sure that his lips made a loud smacking noise as they parted from her skin.

"See I told you sh…" he tried by the man cut him off.

"You son of a bitch," he said.

"Whoa, Bill, calm down," House said laughing a little.

"Tell her that I will not tell Brian, maybe she can still save this relationship. And tell her that I said she'd better come home to her husband."

"I don't think they've made it down the isle yet," House said. "And are you sure she's going to listen to you? I mean she nev…" he shut up when he heard the phone being slammed back into its cradle on the other end.

He smiled and placed the phone back on the nightstand before he resumed his position snuggled up behind Lisa. He kissed her neck again and she wiggled in his arms.

"I said stop," she said tiredly.

He knew she was really tired and wouldn't remember much of what she or anyone else was saying right now. So he said it. "I love you," he whispered softly in her ear.

"I love you too," she said on the verge of falling back into a deep sleep.

He smiled widely at her admittance of what he had already known. He closed his eyes as he dosed of to sleep, but her eyes shot open, as her brain finally interpreted the signals her ears were sending to her and the words that her mouth had seemingly said on its own…not that they weren't true. She didn't move at first. She was still trying to make sure she had heard right. When she was sure she had heard what she thought she heard, she turned around to face him. He had fallen asleep. She smiled at the sight and placed her hand on the side of his face before placing a tender kiss on his lips. He pulled her closer, but didn't open his eyes.

"Don't start something you don't plan on finishing," he told her in a raspy voice.

"Who said I didn't plan on finishing it," she said coyly.

One of his eyes popped open to see her smiling at him.

"You're such a tease," he said closing his eyes and turning onto his back.

He felt her weight shift off of his arm, then felt one of her legs brush across his lower abdomen as she straddled him. He opened his eyes and looked at her suspiciously.

"What made you change your mind?" He asked, trying to make sure she was serious. He wasn't in the mood for a cold shower incase she changed her mind at the last minute.

"I heard you," she said with a smile as she bent down to place another kiss on his lips.

"Heard me what?" he asked still a little confused, but started to feel her up anyways.

She kissed him again, and the smile still remained on her face. "I heard you say you loved me."

His eyes grew wide. "Are you sure that was me?"

She kissed him at the corner of his lips then moved her mouth closer to his ear. "Positive."

He thought that she would be so out of it, that if she did remember, she would think she dreamt it. She kissed his neck then sat back up. She brought her hands to the hem of the shirt she had on and pulled it over her head, leaving her bare chest exposed for him to see. His eyes shot from her face to her breast then back again. He sat up slowly and wrapped his arms back around her, he brought his mouth closer to hers and brushed his lips against hers. He tried to kiss her and she pulled back a little bit. He knew what she wanted and at this point he was willing to give it.

"You were right," he started. "You heard me say it."

"Heard you say what?" she asked pulling away from yet another kiss.

"I love you," he whispered against her lips.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and welcomed his next attempt at a kiss. He put one of his hands on the side of her face, making her tilt her head a little to deepen the kiss, as he continued to massage her tongue with his. He moved his mouth down to her neck, and began to suck and bite on it lightly, as the soft moans that escaped from her lips bounced off of the walls of the room. She started to grind her hips against him, speeding up the growth of the bulge in his pants. He moved his mouth further down until it reached her left breast. She arched into him when she felt his lips wrap around the peak of her breast. She moaned and moved her hand to the back of his head as she felt his tongue spiral around her nipple as he kneaded the other with his hand. He then did the same to the other breast.

She gasped as he held her with one hand and used the other and his good leg to flip them over so that he was lying on top of her. He leaned down and continued kissing her as she brought her hands to the bottom of his shirt and started to slowly pull it upward. He broke the kiss, shortly to allow her to pull the shirt over his head, and immediately started to place wet kisses all over her neck and collarbone after she tossed the shirt on the floor. Her hands immediately went to the waistband of his pants and she started to slide them downward slowly. She moaned when she felt his hard member brush against her inner thigh, reminding her of how _gifted_ he was. He helped her finish taking his pants off, before he stuck his fingers in the waistband of her panties and started to slide them downward bringing her shorts along with them. When he had successfully removed the shorts, he stopped and looked at her fully naked body lying beneath him, which he would agree was still one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. He flashed back to the last time they had made love, and hoped that this time didn't end the same way. He didn't plan on it, but he didn't plan on having sex with her when he saw it was her at the door either. He wanted to, but hadn't planned on it.

"What's wrong?" she asked placing her hands on his biceps.

"I do love you Lise," he told her

"I know," she said placing her hand on his face. "I told you, I love you too."

"But I can't be this well adjusted father and husband you need me to be," he started. "I can't…,"

"You want me to be your wife?" she asked confused. He just stared at her realizing his slip of the tongue. It was too late to turn back now, he had put everything else out there, why stop now. What else was there too lose? After the time they had recently spent together, he felt comfortable enough with her to take the next step, again. He felt like he had felt before he left. He sighed and reached under the pillow that she was lying on. He felt around until he found the object that he had been storing there. He held the ring up and the moon light hit it causing it to sparkle.

"I guess this is yours," he said. "I mean if you still want it."

She looked at the ring and smiled as tears started to well in her eyes. He just watched her as she took the ring from him, inspected it for a moment, then placed it on her finger. He took that as a yes to his '_romantic_' marriage proposal.

"Like I was saying," he tried to continue, "I can't…"

She cut him off by placing her finger over his lips. "You're already everything I need you to be," she smiled at him.

He searched her eyes and saw the sincerity in them. And for the first time in a long time, he felt totally accepted for the person he was, by someone other than his kids of course. He smiled at her as he lowered his face to hers and crushed his lips against hers in a wild passionate kiss. This allowed him to swallow the loud, lustful moans that escaped her mouth as he penetrated her slowly, allowing her to feel every inch of him. After he had inserted the last inch of himself into her, and was buried deep inside of her, he broke away from the kiss and started to suck on her neck and collar bone giving her time to re-adjust to him. This also gave him time to recompose himself after feeling her warm, wet, walls envelope him fully. It had been so long that they had been connected in this way, that the feeling was almost overwhelming. When he felt her hips start to thrust lightly into his, he slowly withdrew himself from her, still placing wet kisses all over her neck and chest, allowing the soft, sensual moans that he was evoking in her to escape to the surface and fill his ears. It was the most beautiful song he had ever heard. He reinserted himself into her and started a slow steady pace. They continued like this for a while. It was his way of controlling her volume, and not letting her get too loud. He also wanted this to last as long as he could make it last. After about an hour of slow, passionate love making, her moans, the feel of her warm wetness, and the feel and sight of her body writhing beneath him was becoming too much, and he felt himself about to reach the edge. He sped up his pace significantly, making her lustful noise grow increasingly louder. He managed to tell her to quiet down between his grunts. He felt her muscles start to contract against him, and he increased the speed and intensity in which his hips were pounding into hers. She wrapped her arms around him, buried her face in his neck and moaned his name before letting out the sound she couldn't hold back whenever she made love to him, as she felt her orgasm over come her. He was so close, that her muffled yelp was all he needed to send him over the edge. He collapsed on top of her, supporting himself enough not to crush her with his weight. They both lay there catching their breathes, not saying anything for a while.

"You've still got it," he said smacking her on the butt. He tried to roll off of her, but she wrapped her arms around him keeping him inside of her.

"Not yet," she whispered in his ear. So he wrapped his arm around her and rolled them on their sides, careful not to break the physically intimate connection between them, so he could rest his whole body weight on the bed. They stayed like that for several minutes, their bodies entangled with each others, before he felt her grip loosen on him. He slipped out of her, but still held her close as they both drifted off to sleep.


	43. Chapter 43

She opened her eyes as the sunlight broke through the window. She realized that her body was draped across another warm body and she wasn't in her bedroom, or her house for that matter. A smile spread across her face as memories from the night before came rushing back to her. She held her hand up and looked at the ring on her finger, which made her smile grow wider. Then she turned over and saw the gold ring, the one she had to return to its owner. She slowly slipped from his arms and went into the bathroom to shower. After she had finished getting dressed, she went back into the bedroom and grabbed the ring off of the night stand. She then quietly left the apartment, careful not to wake anyone. She hoped she'd be back before any of them woke up.

She drove for about fifteen minutes before she pulled up in front of her house. Brian's car was still there and she knew that all three people were inside. Her question of rather they were awake or not was answered when she saw the front door open and Brian rush out. She got out of the car and stood next to it watching him as he walked over to her. She would have went inside, but she figured it was better to deal with one than to deal with all three of them together.

"Lisa where have you been?" he asked. "I've been calling your phone all morning, but it keeps going to voice mail."

She just looked at him, sorry she was about to break his heart. He saw the expression on her face and immediately became more concerned.

"Baby what's wrong?" he asked her.

She took a deep breath before she started talking. "I had a lot of time to think about our relationship; about how you would fit into my life and about how I would fit into yours." He just stared at her intently, hoping she wasn't trying to say what he thought she was trying to say. "The truth is, I don't fit into your life," she said looking up at him as tears started streaming down her face, "and you don't want to fit into mine."

"What? How can you say that? Lisa, I'm in love with you," he told her. She just looked at the ground. "Your in love with me too right?" she didn't answer. "Right?" he tried to question again.

"I'm sorry," she said so he could barely here it.

"What's the problem?" he asked. "Tell me what's the problem and we can fix this."

"Brian, it wouldn't work," she told him. "You know it wouldn't work. I'm not willing to give up any of my kids and you're not willing to give up any of the time you spend working at your company." She pulled the ring from her pocket and handed it to him, but his attention was drawn to her hand that lay at her side. He grabbed it before she knew what he was doing.

"Is this another engagement ring?" he asked still holding her left hand. She tried to pull back, but he wouldn't let her. "That's why you're leaving me, because you're marrying someone else?"

"That's not why I'm leaving you," she tried to explain.

"Who is he?" he asked her.

"That's none of your business," she told him.

"I think you could at least give me the guy's name, seeing as how you just broke off our engagement for him."

"I told you," she started. "I didn't break off our engagement because of him. I broke of our engagement because of you. Brian, you act just like my father, and I left home at eighteen and never went back, just to get away from him. I was miserable when I was living under his roof. I'm not going to put myself back into that situation. I'm not going to be miserable for the rest of my life, and I am definitely not going to let you make the kids' lives miserable."

"Who is he?" he repeated.

She sighed, and figured it was the least she could do. "It's House."  
He gave a condescending laugh.

"Are you serious?" he asked her. "You really think he's going to marry you? Lisa, he didn't marry you after you had two of his kids, why would you think he would marry you now?"

She just looked at him with anger and hurt on her face. "Fine," he continued. "You want him, you can have him. I hope he gives you just what you deserve." With that he walked back into the house, she guessed to get what little of his things he had actually moved in.

She stayed outside standing by her car as the tears continued to flow and the first doubts about her situation began to set in. What if history ended up repeating itself between her and House? She didn't have time to go deep into her thoughts as her father came charging out of the house next, followed by her mother.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled.

"Bill keep your voice down," her mother warned him.

"You have a perfectly good man here that is willing to marry you and take care of you and those girls and you're throwing that away because that asshole told you he was going to marry you."

"I can take care of myself and my kids," she told him opening her car door again. "And I marry whomever I please. He makes me happy, and I'd rather be happy with an asshole than be like Mom and be miserable and married to a _'good man_'."

With that she got in her car and left, with her father still yelling something behind her. She couldn't help but to think if they were all right as the tears rolled down her face. She drove around aimlessly, trying to sort the thoughts that were in her head. She couldn't just jump into this thing with him, she wanted to, but she had more then herself to think about. There were four people that she had to think of before herself, all of them seeming to be getting used to the idea of him being in their lives, even wanting it. They were beginning to expect things of him, expecting him to be there. She didn't want to encourage this idea in their heads, because she didn't know if he was ready to accept it. She also didn't want herself to get too wrapped up in his promises, because she didn't know if she could handle him breaking them again. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't go home, she would wait until her parents left, undoubtedly they would be leaving later on that day, after the recent news and her little spat with her father. She didn't want to go back to his apartment because she needed to be alone, she needed to think. She drove around and ended up in the hospital's parking lot. She parked in her parking space and made her way into her office.

House rolled over to the sound of his pager going off. He picked it up and saw that it was from Foreman. He stared up at the ceiling and groaned not wanting to get out of bed. He then noticed that the spot next to him was surprisingly unoccupied. He looked over on the nightstand and saw that the gold ring was gone, and thankfully, his hadn't replaced it. He then noticed that her cell phone was gone also. Not thinking too much of it, he carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed. Before standing, he grabbed the bottle of vicodin off of the night stand and took two of them. He massaged the soreness from his legs and slowly made his way into the bathroom. After he had showered and gotten dressed, he made his way to the living room to see that his other four guests were still there; three of them sound asleep while the smallest sat in front of the television watching cartoons.

"Where are you going?" she asked him.

"To work," he told her.

"But it's Sadderday," she told him.

"I'm painfully aware of that," he told her. "I wish sick people had that mind set."

"I'm hungry," she told him as she got up and started walking over to him. "I want cereal."

"Tell someone else to fix it," he told her. "I have to go."

"I axed, but they turned on the TV and told me to shut up."

He stared at the little girl before going back into the kitchen and finding the cereal with the most sugar. He grabbed the box and handed it to her. After making sure she was secure in front of the television and nudging the three teens and telling them to keep an eye on her, he left out of the door.

* * *

After parking his bike he started towards the entrance. As he got closer he realized that her car was there. He passed by her office on the way to the elevator, but the blinds where pulled and the lights seemed to be off. He wanted to go in and see if she was in there, but decided to check on his patient first.

She sat in her office with only the light coming through the windows illuminating the room. Her left ring finger was bare. She just stared at the ring sitting on her desk. How could one small object possibly represent two totally different things? On one hand it could represent the completion of everything she had ever wanted, something that was supposed to have happened years ago. A family, her kids and the man she loved under one roof; a happy family, probably slightly dysfunctional, but happy none the less. But she had never really wanted a '_perfect family_', or pod people as House would call them. She had given off the impression that this was what she wanted, but she knew as well as anyone else who knew her past with House, that deep down inside that wasn't what she wanted. She knew she would never get that with House or the kids, and she wouldn't change them for the world. She pushed the ring across the desk with her finger. She sighed as she tried to figure out where it was all going. She didn't think he was that cruel to insert himself into their lives only to leave them feeling abandoned. She knew that he wasn't that cold hearted…but he was damaged. And he was often able to shut his heart down to come to a logical decision…a decision that made sense to him if no one else. She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly as she looked up at the ceiling. Before she could get any further in her thinking process, she heard her office door start to creak open. She stared at the door wondering who even knew that she was there.

'Who else?' she thought to herself when she saw him walk into the room.

"Hmmm, lets see, " he started. "You have sex with me and leave before I wake up, you leave me with an apartment full of kids, and now you're sitting in your office not working… Are you trying to see what it's like to be me?"

She just stared at him not saying anything. He looked around the room, suspiciously.

"Okaay," he said. "I don't remember doing anything for you t…," his heart sunk when he saw the ring sitting on her desk. He looked down at the floor and then back to her. "You changed your mind," he continued, trying to hide the hurt in his voice. "All you had to do was tell me, you didn't have to run out" he said reaching for the ring. She put her hand on top of his keeping him from removing the ring from her desk.

"Cuddy, I really like this desk, for very obvious reasons, but I don't think I want to marry it," he said sarcastically.

"Why?" she asked him.

"Because while it's fun to have sex on, I really don't thi…" he started but she cut him off.

"Why do you want to marry me?" she asked him. "Is it because you thought I was going to marry Brian?"

"I asked you after you had already said you weren't marrying him."

"So its because you thought that was the only way for you to have sex with me?" she asked.

"Kinda had that ground covered already too."

"Well then why?" she demanded as tears came to her eyes. "What makes this time different then the last time?"

"I told you why last night," he said quietly.

"We were about to have sex," she told him. "That's the only reason you admitted it. You denied it until you saw that I was willing to have sex with you. You can't even say it unless you're lying in the bed with me, can you?"

He just stared at her confused at where the hell all of this was coming from. But maybe she was right. He cursed himself inwardly. Why was this so hard? He really did love her, he had never stopped loving her.

"I knew it," she said getting up from behind the desk. He grabbed her arm stopping her as she tried to walk past him and saw the tears streaming down her face. She just looked up at him with questioning eyes.

"I love you," he told her.

She looked away from him, not sure if this had just made her decision easier or harder. She wanted him to say that he loved her, she had asked him to say it, and he did. This should have solved everything, but he used to always tell her he loved her, and he still left. To love her was one thing, but would that love keep him around this time.

"House, what are you doing?" she asked, walking over to the couch and sitting down.

"I thought I was doing what you wanted me to do," he said following her.

"I want you to do what you want to do, not what I want you to do," she told him. "I don't want you to tell me that you love me just because I asked you to say it, I wanted you to say it because you actually love me."

"I do actually love you," he said with confused anger. "What…where is all this coming from? You're confusing the hell out of me."

"I want you to be with me because you actually want to be here with me, with us," she started. "And you can be in the kids' lives without being with me. How committed are you to this?"

"Hello? I asked you to marry me," he told her.

"Well forgive me for needing just a little bit more than a marriage proposal from you," she told him.

He looked down at the floor, finally seeing where she was going with the whole thing. He cringed at the thought of him walking out on them again, he knew he could never do it, but she needed to know that too.

"Greg, I need to know that I'm not falling into the same trap. We both know how this ended last time, and I'm not willing to go back down that road," she told him. "And I honestly don't know if history is about to repeat itself. What has changed between then and now? What is different this time around?"

He didn't say anything; he just continued looking at the floor. She wasn't looking at him either. She was too afraid that he was going to give her the wrong answer, or worse, say nothing at all. He sat back on the sofa, eyes still concentrated on the carpet. He took a deep breath before he began.

"I realized," he started slowly, making her look up at him, "that leaving you and our girls did save me from becoming like my father…but only to make me worse than he was. The only thing worst than having a unfit father or an ungrateful condescending husband that you loathe is having one who is not even willing to try to be a good husband or father. And I want to try. The people you love aren't affected by your intentions; they are only affected by your actions. I realized I messed up and that…," he hesitated, not used to voicing these kinds of emotions, but he wasn't willing to let his father win anymore, and he wasn't willing to loose her again. "And I want my family back."

She looked at him for a few moments. She figured that if he was willing to expose this much of himself that he was really serious about what he was saying. She took the ring that he had been holding in his hand, placing it back on her finger. She saw the small smile that appeared on his face and leaned over to kiss him. She grabbed hold of his shirt pulling him over to her as they deepened the kiss. He maneuvered himself so that he was hovering on top of her and pulled away from the kiss.

"This isn't going to lead to another 'is this all about sex' discussion is it?"

"Shut up," she said with a smile before pulling him back into the kiss.

They continued kissing, and before long, managed to undress each other, allowing the couch to join the exclusive office furniture club that only the desk had had the privilege of being a part of before.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about not updating yesterday. I was a little busy. And I'm doing a prequel to this story, not a sequel...well not yet anyways.**


	44. Chapter 44

After she had left House at the hospital tending to his patient, she had passed by her house to see if anyone was still there. Thankfully all of her guests had vacated the premises. She called Logan's cell phone and told them to come home. Then she thought about how she was going to explain the whole situation to them, and everyone else. She fed the dog and then went to take a shower. When she got out, she followed the sound of the voices she heard into the kitchen. They were either eating or in the process of getting something to eat, which wasn't surprising since House still hadn't learned to make groceries. Isabella came running up to her with her arms raised signaling Cuddy to pick her up, and before she could say anything Madison started talking.

"Hey where's that ugly statue Brian had in the living room?" she asked her. "Not that I miss it or anything. I've actually been meaning to _accidentally_ break it for a while now."

"I made a _mistake_ and knocked it over three times," Logan started. "Trust me, it doesn't break easily."

"He must've taken it with him," she said.

"Taken it with him where?" Hayden asked.

"Back to his house," she told them. "Brian doesn't live here anymore."

The three eldest just stared at her thinking that they had just misheard what she had said.

"Wait, I'm sorry," Logan said shaking his head. "It sounded like you said he doesn't live hear anymore, but I think I'm just hearing what I want to hear."

"No I heard it too," Hayden told him.

They continued to look at her and took her silence as conformation of what they had just heard. Madison was the first to react by squealing and hugging her. Logan raised his hands in the air and had a huge grin plastered on his face, while Hayden let out a 'yes!' before running into the living room and coming back to toss the picture frame containing the picture of her, Madison, Cuddy, and Brian which Cuddy had made them take after Brian had asked. Madison noticed the other ring on Cuddy's finger.

"You didn't give him the ring back?" she asked grabbing her hand and observing it more closely. "Wait, this isn't the ring he gave you?" This made them all look at her suspiciously.

"It's not the ring he gave me," Cuddy confirmed.

"But it looks like an engagement ring," Hayden told her.

"It is," she said with a smile, "your dad gave it to me. We're getting married."

Madison again squealed and hugged her. She saw the huge grin of approval on Logan's face, but when she looked to Hayden the girl just stared at her with a blank expression. She looked to the floor then back up at her before turning to wash the dish in her hands. This made the smile on Cuddy's face dissipate a little. The girl finished washing the dish before leaving out of the kitchen. Cuddy didn't want to talk about it right then and there, with everyone else in the room, but she made a mental note to talk to her later, when they were alone.

"I'm going to go call him," Madison said running out of the kitchen.

"Madison don't," she said yelling behind the girl. "He's at work." But she knew it was useless.

"So what do you think?" she asked Isabella, who had occupied herself by playing with Cuddy's hair.

"About what?" she said with her usual smile on her face.

"About me marrying House?"

"Is he going to live with us?" she asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Cool," she said throwing her hands up. "I like him, he's nice."

"Yeah, okay," she said putting the little girl down. She watched her run out of the room and was almost ready to declare the little girl delusional, but then she realized something. House had not been his usual cantankerous self around her or any of the kids really. But still it was weird with Isabella seeing as she was significantly younger than the rest of the kids. Sure he had had interactions with Hayden and Madison at that age, but after he had come to work at the hospital, it seemed he had had a certain dislike for younger kids. Maybe he really was serious about being with her. So she was happy that the two had taken to each other, especially with the way he had reacted when she was first born…or maybe that was the reason why he had taken to her so easily.

*************************************************************  
_Cuddy was in the nursery feeding Isabella. The baby was only a few hours old. She was supposed to be working, but wasn't really doing anything. It didn't matter anyway seeing as she was the dean and she was on salary. The truth is she had organized her schedule around the baby's feeding schedule. She didn't think it was fair to the infant to be the only baby in the nursery to be getting fed by the nurses rather than someone in her family. Unfortunately at that moment, the head diagnostician needed her approval for something. Even more unfortunately, he spotted her through the window of the nursery sitting in the rocking chair in the back corner feeding the baby. He knocked loudly on the glass, startling just about every baby in the nursery including some of the nurses, causing all the little ones to start crying. All of the nurses gave him the death glare as they started to try and soothe the babies, but he didn't care. He just kept his gaze locked on her. She rolled her eyes at him, before turning away and turning her focus back to the sweet little face staring up at her. She was in no hurry to see what he wanted, chances were it was something totally unethical that she was going to disagree with anyway. The baby was gripping on to her finger as she fed her, and she smiled. She was definitely in no hurry to see what he wanted. After Isabella finished her bottle, she put the baby on her shoulder and started rubbing her back. When she looked up, she saw him standing right in front of her with a surgical gown on glaring down at her._

_"Why are you toying around with these newly hatched little parasites when you have a hospital full of actual people who need your help?" he asked._

_"What do you want House?" she asked him with indifference to his question._

_"I want my boss to start doing her job," he told her. "That will help me to do my job."_

_"Someone has to feed her," she said._

_"There is a room full of nurses you hired to do that and a whole floor full of women with milk filled boobs here all the time," he said motioning to the women in the back room who were breastfeeding, "and they don't have a hospital to run."_

_"I can still run the hospital from here," she told him._

_"This is ridiculous. Are you just drawn to these little pseudo-human…" he was cut off by one of the nurses walking up to them._

_"Dr. Cuddy," the woman started, "that was nurse Brenda who just called for you, she said that there is an emergency in the clinic."_

_"Tell her I'll be right down," she told her. The woman went back over to the phone as Cuddy stood up from the rocking chair. She took the cloth from her shoulder and placed it over House's before placing the baby in his arms. "Stay here until I get back."_

_Of course when she returned a half hour later he had already left, but one of the nurses told her that he had only left about five minutes ago and that was because his pager went off. She assumed it was because he had gotten suckered in by the baby's cuteness, no matter how much he claimed to dislike other people's kids. But that was only part of it; the other part being that he couldn't help, but to show some interest in anything she cared so much about._  
**************************************************************************

Lisa knocked on the door lightly before opening it and standing in the doorway. Hayden looked up at her quickly before turning her head back to the pictures she was sorting on her bed. They would soon be added to her wall collage.

"Wanna talk about it?" she asked Hayden.

"Talk about what?" she asked still not looking up at her mother.

"About me marrying your dad."

"What's there to talk about?" she asked, nonchalantly.

"I saw the way you reacted when you found out," she started as she sat down on the bed next to the girl. "I just figured you might have had something that you wanted to say."

The girl let out an annoyed sigh. "If I had something to say, I would've said it."

"Okay then how do you feel about it?" she asked her.

"I don't feel about it, Mom," she said in a sing song voice that screamed a nice 'leave me alone'.

"So you're fine with it?" she pushed on.

"Whatever makes you happy."

"You being happy makes me happy," she told her.

The girl took a deep breath and let it out loudly before putting a fake smile on her face. "See," she said turning to her mother and pointing to the smile on her face. "Happy."

Lisa took the hint that she didn't want to talk about it, but she knew the girl was still bothered by the idea. She would talk about it when she was ready. She got up off of the bed and walked back to the door, before turning around. "You know you can come and talk to me anytime you want," she informed her.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, "talking."

Lisa smiled at the girl before walking out and closing the door. The girl didn't have the trouble House did with expressing her feelings, but she did her best to never show weakness and to portray indifference towards everything like he did. She would eventually come around in the end, if something was really bothering her. She just hoped she didn't end up being as socially and emotionally hindered as her father.

A few minutes after she had left out of Hayden's room, Logan went in.

"Whadda you want?" Hayden asked him now placing the pictures on the wall.

"Your mom said you didn't want to be bothered so I thought I'd come up here and bother you."

She rolled her eyes at him as he sat down in a chair across the room from her. He picked up the yellow tennis ball that lay on the table next to him and started bouncing it off of the wall she was placing the pictures on

"Could you stop it?" she asked as the ball got increasingly closer to her head.

"I could," he said still bouncing the ball off of the wall.  
He continued doing this for a little while longer, intentionally letting the ball get closer to her head.

"Logan!," she yelled turning around to face him.

"Hayden!," he said mocking her tone with an amused smile as he kept throwing the ball.

"Mom!" the girl yelled "Logan won't leave me…" before she could finish he was already mocking her.

"Moooom! Logan won't leave me alone."

Before he knew what had happened Hayden had grabbed the ball before it bounced off of the wall and threw it at him hard, hitting him in the stomach with it.

"Owww!" the boy yelled as he doubled over. "That hurt!"

She turned back around to finish putting the pictures up with a satisfied grin on her face.

"Could you two quiet down." Cuddy said walking back into the room. "I'm on the phone."

With that she dipped back out of the room leaving them to sort out the problem alone. That wasn't a big problem since Logan had decided to lay off of the ball throwing, fearing he might get hit with something harder if he continued. He got down on the floor to get the ball that had rolled under the bed. He grabbed the ball and also found a little green tackle box as well. He pulled it out and sat on the bed before opening the box.

"What's this?"

"What's what?" Hayden asked placing the last picture on the wall before turning around to face him. She saw what Logan had in his hand and lunged towards him.

"Give me that," she said. But it was too late. She had managed to get the box away from him, but he had already removed the one item she didn't want him to see. He held it in the hand farthest away from her so she couldn't get it.

"Give it to me Logan," she demanded.

"Is this a picture of you and your dad?" he asked looking at the black and white photo.

It was a picture of House and Hayden when she was about four years old. It was a very intimate close up of their faces. It was obviously snapped when they weren't expecting it since neither of them were smiling. Their faces were pressed together side by side and her arms were wrapped around his neck as he cuddled her. The picture was a little familiar to him, since she had one almost exactly like it of her and her mother on her wall, the only difference being they were smiling.

"I said give it here," she told him with a shaky voice. She snatched the picture out of his hand. "You have no right to go through my things, now get out of my room."

"Why don't you have this picture up on your wall?" he asked ignoring her.

"I said get out," she yelled pushing him out of the room and closing the door before locking it. He had his back turned so he didn't see the tears falling down her face.  
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By the time House had found out what was wrong with his patient and started him on treatment it was late. By the time he had gone to his apartment showered and made it over to Lisa's it was even later. He thought for sure everyone would be asleep, but he saw a dim light coming from her bedroom. He thought he would feel weird, but after he had gotten used to hanging out there, nothing was ever really weird between them again. Even after they had kissed while she was still engaged to Brian, they had went on like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He used his key and unlocked the front door. He slowly made his way to her bedroom to find her sitting in bed with her laptop. Isabella was curled up under the covers next to her asleep. She looked up and smiled at him warmly as he walked into the room.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said eyeing Isabella curiously. Before he didn't really mind the little girl sleeping with them, but for obvious reasons, now it was a problem. She looked up at him smiling; already knowing what he was thinking. "Is she going to be sleeping in here every night? "

"Maybe," she said.

"Maybe she should sleep in Madison's bed," he suggested.

"Or maybe we should get a bigger house."

"If you're paying," he said sitting down on the bed, and beginning to take his shoes off.

She rolled her eyes at him and turned back to the computer. "We'll have to get a bigger house sooner or later."

"Says who?"

"Okay fine," she told him. "Isabella will be fine sleeping in here every night."

"There are three other rooms in this house," he told her, "why can't she sleep with them?"

"Because that would make it harder to convince you that we need to get a bigger house," she told him still looking at the computer screen.

He just looked at her in disbelief at how fast she had adapted back to the role of finding different ways to get him to do what she wanted. Sure she had been doing that for the last few months, but not to this degree.

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack," she said looking at him as she closed the laptop. "Goodnight." She placed the laptop on the nightstand before turning off the lamp and lying down ready to go to sleep. He was too tired to argue with her so he went to sleep figuring he would discuss it with her later and come up with a plan to make her change her mind.

* * *

The next few weeks went by with House staying over at Cuddy's house after he got off from work until he had to go to work the next morning. She had asked him why he didn't just bring some clothes, and he had said he really didn't think it was necessary. It wasn't until she started waking him up extra early for work so he could go and change that he started moving his things in slowly. He wasn't ready to give up his apartment yet, although he was hardly ever there. He knew soon that he would be giving it up though. News was buzzing around the hospital mostly because they had told Wilson, well only because they had told Wilson. That was the one person they had told, before they started getting some congratulations, which were mostly reserved for Cuddy, while House just got a few congrats and even more glares than before. After the initial fuss was over, everything at work stayed the same. It was like nothing had changed between them. He would still barge into her office every now and then, when he had a patient trying to get her to sign off on some dangerous and sometimes unneeded procedures. She still had to hunt him down in order to get him to do his clinic hours. This made it easier for everyone to forget that their relationship status had changed.

At home things were mostly the same, except for the new living arrangements. Madison was ecstatic to have everyone living under the same roof, Logan ecstatic to have Brian gone, and Isabella was just ecstatic as always. Even Hayden seemed to be alright with everything, although Cuddy could still tell something was bugging her. She had tried multiple times to get the girl to talk about it, but she got no where. He had made a deal with Isabella that she was to fall asleep in anybody else's bed except for theirs, which seemed to be working up until now. House had started to come into his own as a father figure in all of the kid's lives. Mostly because he found that Cuddy got mad with him too when he took their sides or stayed neutral. And it sealed the deal when Cuddy couldn't leave the hospital and he had to go to the school and talk to the head master or teachers, all of whom he deemed more annoying than his clinic patients.

"Blake Donahue," House called out into the waiting area. He paused when he saw the blond haired boy stand up. He eyed the boy up and down as he walked over to him. He was about sixteen or so with blue eyes, a familiar face and name that House didn't like. Madison had shown him a picture of the boy on Hayden's phone. He turned and the boy followed him into the exam room. He closed the door as the boy hopped up onto the table.

"Soo, Blake," he said with hidden malice in his tone. "What happens to be the problem?"

"Well," the boy started timidly, "it hurts when I pee. And something else comes out of it."

"Pus?" House questioned.

"Yeah," he said.

He studied the boy with a forced smile on his face.  
"Blake, I believe you have gonorrhea," he said trying to hold back his anger. After all, he didn't know if he had a reason to be angry yet.

"What?" the boy said as if he was offended.

"I'm going to have to swab you to confirm," he said grabbing a pin and a pad. "But first I need to know the names of all your sexual partners."

Thankfully the boy did not name Hayden. House had asked him if he was sure, but he had insisted that he had only had sex with the people he had named. He had finished the swab test which he had made as painful as possible, just in case the boy was thinking about adding a certain someone to his list. Then he walked into Cuddy's office to discuss the little problem that they had.

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**A/N: Hope you guys are still enjoying the story.**


	45. Chapter 45

"So you think she's having sex with him?" Cuddy asked with a concerned look on her face.

"No I don't think she's having sex with him," House told her. "At least I hope not. But that's not the point. The point is he's having sex, and sooner or later he's going to try and get her to have sex with him."

"I don't think he can coax her into having sex with him if she doesn't want to."

"I don't think so either, but you have to make sure that he doesn't," he replied.

"And how do I have to make sure of that?" she asked. He would always try to get her to do the dirty work.

"By telling her she can't see him anymore," he said as if it was going to be as simple as that.

"Why don't you tell her she can't see him anymore?" she asked him.

"You don't care that the boy our daughter is dating has crotch rot and is having sex with four other girls?"

"Of course I care," she started, but he cut her off.

"Well then tell her she can't see him anymore."

"I trust Hayden," she told him. "I don't think that she is going to have sex with him or anyone else right now, but I don't know for sure, so I agree with you. I don't want her dating him anymore because he is obviously a little boy that sleeps around, but it was your idea for her not to see him anymore, so you're going to tell her."

She stood up from her desk and started organizing some of the papers on her desk and putting everything else away.

"But she'll…" he tried.

"You're going to tell her," she said cutting him off. "Yes she'll probably be mad at you, but she's going to be mad at me too, because for some reason they think that parents are only here to plot against them and make their lives miserable. It comes with the job, might as well get used to it."

She was now gathering her things.

"Where are you going?" he asked her.

"I'm leaving early," she told him. "I have to go to the nursing home to see Mrs. Everett."

"Yippee," he said getting up to go with her. "We get to go see old people, plus that means I get out of clinic duty early. But I have to go get my things first."

"You're not coming with me," she told him.

"Why not?"

"Because last time I took you to the nursing home, we almost got thrown out," she told him.

"So you'd rather leave me here alone than take me with you so you can keep an eye on me?"

She stared at him in deep thought.

"I'll be waiting for you in the car," she told him.

They pulled up outside of the nursing home about twenty minutes later and walked up to the front desk. The entire staff eyed House as he walked into the door. He just gave them a sarcastic smile, knowing that he annoyed them and there wasn't really much they could do about it. After they had signed in, they walked down the long corridor next to the front desk. They turned to go into the fourth to last room on the right. Cuddy knocked on the opened door lightly to get the woman's attention. She turned her head slowly and motioned for them to come in. When they entered, they saw that there was another woman sitting in the corner dressed in a business suit.

"Oh I'm sorry," Cuddy said. "I didn't know you had company. We can come back later if you'd like."

"No, no," the elder woman said softly. "Come in."

Cuddy walked over to the bed and gave the woman a hug.

"How are you doing darling?" the woman asked.

"Fine, and you?" Cuddy answered.

"So-so," she told her. She nodded at House and motioned for them to sit down in the two vacant chairs on the wall adjacent to the woman in the business suit.

"Lisa, Greg," Mrs. Everett began, "this is Rebecca Thompson."

They exchanged their greetings with the woman.

"She is overseeing my will and all my other legal matters," she continued. "I know it won't be long now and I need to finish up some very important matters now rather than later. Lisa," she paused. "I know you love both of my grand kids like your own and I know there is no one else that their mother would want to have custody of them. I can't take care of them, and you have been doing a great job with them ever since their mother passed. I asked you here because I've had Rebecca draw up some papers giving you legal custody of them." Rebecca pulled out some papers from a folder she had and sat them on a small circular table. "I've already signed them all we need is for you to sign them. That's if you want to."

"Of course I do," Cuddy said reaching over to rub the woman's hand. She and House had already talked about this so there wasn't really anything to discuss between them. She knew that if the woman did come home she would need a home aide and would want the children to stay with them.

"Well all you have to do is sign these papers, and I'll start the process. You won't have to go through any of the hassle seeing as how you are given custody by the prior guardian."

Cuddy walked over to the table to sign the papers. Just as she had finished signing her last name, Rebecca saw the ring on her finger.

"Oh I'm sorry," she started. "Are you two married?"

"We will be very soon," Cuddy told her.

"Yes you're too late," House chimed in. "I'm already taken."

The woman just looked at him.

"Don't mind him," Cuddy told her. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Not really a problem," the woman started. "But if two adults in a relationship are living in the same home especially if they are married or getting married, both must sign the papers and take custody of the children."

All three women looked to House waiting for his reply. He just looked back at Cuddy. He hadn't planned on gaining legal custody of two extra kids today, but if you get financial custody of them, you might as well be able to boss them around he thought. Plus he knew that if he didn't sign the papers, it would complicate things with Cuddy and the four children, and he wasn't willing to risk that.

"House you don't ha…," Cuddy started. She didn't want to force him into doing anything he didn't want to do. She figured there could be another alternative to this, she didn't know what it was yet, but she was sure they could work something out. She just didn't want to risk loosing custody of the children even if just for a little while.

"Why not?" He asked cutting her off, as he began to limp over to the table. "It's not like I have a life now anyways right?"

Cuddy smiled at him and handed him the pen.

"The entire process should take about two weeks," Rebecca told them. "We will send you a letter letting you know how everything went and the papers for legal guardianship will be included. Do you need us to include a copy of their birth certificates or social security cards?"

"No thanks," Cuddy told her. "I already have all of that."

"Okay," Rebecca said gathering her things to leave. "I guess my work here is done. Good bye Mrs. Everett. Lisa, Greg," she nodded to them as she left.

House and Cuddy stayed for about another hour visiting Mrs. Everett. House being more into the television than the conversation the women were having. On their way home, they stopped and picked up Isabella.

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"I assume everybody's homework is done," Cuddy said walking into the house and seeing the three teens playing Wii Sports.

"You know what they say when you assume mom," Hayden told her.

She put down her things and walked over to the game system. She leaned over and press the power button. She got some disapproving "moms" and "no's", but she held a stern face.

"Do your homework and then you can play the game."

They all went upstairs, knowing they weren't going to be able to do anything else until they did their homework. She went into her room to change into something more comfortable before going into the kitchen, to start dinner. She found House washing some grapes for him and Isabella. He had already taken out the ingredients to the meal for her.

"So," he said.

"So what?" she asked him confused.

"Did you say anything to her about it?"

"No," she told him, "because you are going to talk to her. You have to stop being afraid of her getting mad at you."

"But I don't want her to be mad at me."

"Why not?"

"Because," he said, handing the cup of grapes to the little girl.

"Not good enough," she told him. She knew that he had picked up on the distance Hayden had put between them. He just didn't want to do anything to drive her further away. But she knew that he needed to evoke some emotion out of her towards him. If she got mad at him, she would get over it soon, but at least it would be a step from indifference.

"Hayden," Cuddy yelled from the bottom of the staircase.

"Yeah," she yelled back.

"Get down here, your dad wants to talk to you," she yelled.

"What did you do that for?" he asked as she walked back over to the counter and began chopping an onion.

"Because you do want to talk to her," she told him.

Before he could say anything else, Hayden walked through the door.

"What did I do this time?" she asked sitting down to the table and taking a grape from Isabella's cup.

Cuddy just turned around and leaned on the counter, signaling House to start talking.

"Hello?" Hayden said getting tired of waiting. "I don't remember doing anything, so could you just tell me. I don't have time to guess."

House turned away from Cuddy and looked at her, she was staring at him waiting for him to say something. He couldn't explain the whole situation to her because Cuddy wouldn't let him due to doctor-patient confidentiality, so he thought he'd just cut to the chase.

"You know that guy Blake you've been seeing?" He said.

"Yeah, what about him?" she asked popping another grape in her mouth.

"You can't see him anymore."

"What!" the girl asked surprised. "Why not?"

"Because I don't like him, and I don't want you hanging around him," he told her.

"You can't tell me who I can and can't hang out with," she told him standing up from the chair.

"Yes I can," he told her. "I'm your father."

"Mom?" she said looking to Cuddy after seeing he was serious.

"I'm sorry baby," Cuddy told her. "But if your father says you can't seem him anymore, I have to back him up on that."

"I don't believe this," the girl said throwing her hands up in the air.

House just looked at her as she paced the kitchen with her arms folded, obviously brewing. Cuddy nudge him signaling him to say something else.

"I know you are mad, but trust me, I have goo…" he tried but she cut him off.

"Why do you think that you can just walk back into my life and tell me what to do?" she asked turning around to face him. House just stared at her not really having an answer to her question, well he had a few answers, but he knew none of them would hold in the situation.

"Hayden don't talk to your father like that," Cuddy told her.

"Or what?" she asked. Cuddy just looked at her seeing the hurt in her eyes. "Why are you letting him do this? Why are you acting like everything is normal, like he never left? You know mom, when he left us he left you too."

"Baby I know…," Cuddy tried reaching for her, but the girl just pulled away.

"No, clearly you don't know," she said with tears rolling down her face. "You must've forgotten, but I haven't. I haven't forgotten the way you used to cry yourself to sleep every night or how Madison used to ask for him every night after he left. I haven't forgotten the way I used to hope that he would just call or write to show that he cared, but then I realized something. He didn't care."

"Hayden I'm sorry," House tried this time after seeing the tears starting to fall from Cuddy's eyes, as the memories where bought back to the forefront.

"Yeah, that fixes everything," the girl said before storming out of the kitchen and going back to her room.

He was going after her until he heard the door slam. He knew it would be locked by the time he made it up there, and there was no way she was going to open it for him. He turned back to Cuddy and pulled her into his arms as she continued to cry. He rubbed her back as Isabella watched quietly at the table.

"Why don't you go see what Logan or Maddie's doing," he suggested to her. The little girl got up from the chair and slowly walked towards the hallway, keeping her eyes on Cuddy until she disappeared around the corner.

"Are you okay?" he asked her softly, after the tears had stopped coming.

"Yeah," she said pulling away from him. "I'm going to go check on her."

She walked out of the kitchen leaving him alone. She went up to Hayden's door and knocked softly before checking the door. She knew it would be locked, but she just wanted to make sure.

"Hayden," she started sniffing away the remnants of the last tears. "Sweetie open the door, I wanna talk to you." The girl didn't answer.

"Hayden," she tried again. But instead of Hayden's door opening, Madison's did. The girl stood in the doorway.

"She didn't lock the bathroom door," she told her. Cuddy walked over to Madison.

"Are you okay?" she asked knowing the girl had heard all of the yelling.

She nodded and Cuddy walked into the room then into the bathroom that joined Madison's room with Hayden. She opened the door and saw the girl lying on her stomach with her head in her pillows. Her long brown hair was haphazardly splayed across her face and shoulders.

Cuddy sat on the bed next to her and started to rub her back. The girl didn't move.

"You wanna talk?" The girl didn't answer.

"Hayden I wish you would just talk to me," she told her. "Let me help you get through this."

Cuddy heard the girl mumble something, but by her face being buried in the pillows she couldn't make out what she had said. But she did hear the increased sobs as the girls body started jerking a little, and as always, made out the word "mom".

"Aww baby," she said lying down next to the girl and wrapping her arms around her. "Hayden talk to me please," she said pulling the girl closer. She held the girl until her tears slowed.

"Mom is something wrong with me?" she asked quietly.

"No," Cuddy replied brushing some of the girl's hair out of her face, "nothing's wrong with you. Why would you think something's wrong with you."

"Because," she sniffed, "I don't know. It's like I'm the only one who's still mad at him. You've forgiven him, and Madison just doesn't care and she acts like he's been here all along. I feel like I'm the crazy one for still being mad about it."

"Well Madison was a little younger than you," Cuddy started. "She doesn't remember everything as well and maybe that's a good thing. And yes I have forgiven him, but I forgave him a long time ago. I had to or else my life and yours and your sister's would've been miserable. And we still love him, but you have a right to be mad. It's okay to be mad."

"That's the thing," Hayden told her, still sniffing through the tears. "I still love him too, but I am still mad at him. I'm just confused. I mean, I understand where Madison is coming from, but… I remember how it used to be before he went away. Everything was good, I don't have a bad memory of him at that time, but then he left…" she paused, "and I thought he didn't love us anymore, and I hated him so much... And now that he's back…I don't know… I'm happy sometimes because he's back, but then I remember…and I just don't want him to hurt you guy's again."

Cuddy just stared at the girl before pulling her into a tight embrace.

"You let me worry about that," she told her. "I wouldn't be marrying him if I thought he was going to do the same thing as last time. But I think he's changed, and he's realized that he made a mistake. He has apologized and it's up to us to decide if we wanna forgive him," she said pulling back from the embrace a little. She looked at the girl with questioning eyes.

"I can try to forgive him," she said. "But I'm not making any promises."

Cuddy smiled at the girl before pulling her back into a hug, and tucking her head under her chin.

"No fair, she can't cry to get out of homework," Logan said jokingly as he stood in the doorway.

Hayden laughed a little. "Shut up," she told him.

"What's that?" Cuddy asked being all too familiar with the little green papers.

"Oh yeah," he said handing it to her. "Almost forgot about that, again."

She opened the paper and read it. "Why do you have detention again?"

"That's what I asked," the boy said nonchalantly as he turned to leave the room.

Cuddy sighed as she passed her hand across her stomach. She secretly wondered how the soon to be newest addition would fit into the crazy household.

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**A/N: Surprise!!!!!!!!!!**


	46. Chapter 46

"So did you ask her?" House asked as Cuddy walked into the bedroom.

It had gotten late and she had given up on making dinner since she had spent most of the evening talking to Hayden; also because everyone in the house had managed to find something to eat since dinner was taking so long.

"Ask her what?" was her reply.

"You know," he said, "about having…," he trailed off. The word that he used so freely, had become the word he dreaded, being that he was now living with his two teenaged daughters.

"Oh God," she said putting her hand over her face, "I forgot."

"How could you forget?" he asked her, a little upset.

"I'm sorry," she told him in a defensive tone. "I'm tired, I forgot. You ask her."

With that she walked into the bathroom to take a shower. He decided not to push the issue any further since she sounded like she was getting mad. Maybe he should have asked her himself, he thought. It was clear that he needed to open the lines of communication with his daughter, and it was clear that he would have to make the first move. But he didn't know how to do that. He would just have to wing it and hope that everything went well. About twenty minutes later, she walked out of the bathroom with her pajamas on and crawled into bed next to him. She gave him a quick peck on the lips and just smiled at him. He just looked at her confused.

"I think we should push the wedding up," she told him.

"Okay," he said still confused. One minute it seemed as if just the sound of his voice irritated her, now she couldn't wait to marry him. "Why?"

"Because," she said, looking at him debating if she wanted to tell him just yet, "I just think we should. "

She wanted to push the wedding up so that they would be married, by the time the baby was born. She really wanted to be married by the time she started showing too much.

"Push it up to when?"

"Two months," she told him.

"You're going to plan a wedding in two months," he asked, knowing that she probably wanted to take her time to plan out a grand wedding. And knowing her, he knew coordinating her version of grand would take a lot longer than two months.

"Yeah," she told him. "We don't need a big wedding. Just our families and close friends."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked her still not convinced about the idea. "I would 've thought that you would have wanted the works. You know the grand ballroom, a room full of too many flowers, and all that other crap that people spend too much money on just to celebrate one day with each other when they are going to be together for the rest of their lives."

She looked at him and smiled at the thought of 'together for the rest of their lives'. "As long as I am marrying you," she started, "I don't need all of that." She kissed him again. "Plus we can use the money saved from having a smaller wedding to go towards a bigger house."

Any other time he would have put two and two together about the wanting to get married sooner, and now the even more urgent push about the house, but the situation with Hayden was taking up most of his thought processes.

"I thought we already talked about the house," he told her.

"We did," she told him nonchalantly.

"And I said if you're paying for it, I'm all for it."

"We are both going to pay for it," she informed him.

"Sorry. No deal."

"We are getting a bigger house," she told him, and ended the conversation by turning over and turning off the lamp on her side of the bed.

He stayed up a little while longer thinking about how he was going to handle the situation with Hayden and found himself praying that the girl wasn't having sex at all, let alone with Blake. He too, soon fell asleep, none the wiser about the soon to be addition to the family.

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He was awaken from his sleep the next morning as Cuddy bolted up from the bed and ran into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. He got up and limped behind her. He slowly opened the door to find her hovered over the toilet. She held her hair back with one hand and used her other hand to prop herself up on the toilet seat as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. He stared at her, his brow furrowed as he began to finally put two and two together. It finally seemed that she had finished puking, but she stayed stooped next to the toilet just incase she was wrong. She looked up at him with weak eyes knowing that she wouldn't have the chance to tell him what she should've told him the night before. He didn't say anything at first and just stared at her.

"I'll start looking for a house today," he told her before walking out of the bathroom.

She stayed stooped by the toilet, trying to regain her strength and over come the small nauseating feeling that was left in her stomach. She had just stood to her feet when he came back to the bathroom.

"How did this happen?" he asked her.

"Are you serious?" she asked in disbelief.

"I mean I know how it happened," he started, "but I thought you were on the pill."

"I was," she told him. "Until about six months ago."

"Why'd you get off?" he asked sounding a little upset about the news. Not that it wasn't wanted, but it was too unexpected.

"Because I wanted a baby," she told him, in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well I said I was going to marry you. You didn't have to try and trap me, you know."

She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Yeah," she said in a sarcastic tone, "because it worked so well the first two times. And everybody knows the third times the charm."

"You could've told me," he told her. "So I could've at least known the chances of this happening."

"Look, this wasn't some big conspiracy to trap you," she said rolling her eyes at the ridiculous thought. "I forgot to tell you. I'd been decided that I wanted to have another baby. Brian didn't want one so I was thinking about doing IVF, that's why I stopped the pill."

"Why do you want more kids?" he asked her. "You have a house full of kids right now."

"Yeah," she said heading back into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for work. "Just the way I like it."

He rolled his eyes at her and walked out of the room. He knew that the Hayden, Madison, and Logan had already left to go to school, so he began walking towards the living room after hearing the cartoon sound effects coming from the television. Planted on the floor in front of the television was Isabella.

"Hey kiddo," he said sitting down on the sofa.

The little girl smiled upon noticing him, before she got up, walked over to the couch and climbed into his lap. This had become a habit for her, and House had no other choice but to quickly adapt. She liked to be cuddled and he was slowly becoming just as often accepted for the job as Cuddy was. He didn't mind too much. It reminded him of when Hayden and Madison were little and all they wanted was to be held by him and that was all he wanted to do. Cuddy would always tell him that he would spoil them, and she was starting to tell him that about Isabella. He was, but he and Isabella were fine with that. And though he didn't know it, Cuddy could tell he was also slowly becoming wrapped around her little finger, as he was with Hayden and Madison.

A little while later, Cuddy walked into the living room in her robe.

"You could have gotten her dressed," she said as she took the little girl from his lap.

"Sorry, we were watching cartoons," he told her. "We really thought the coyote was going to catch the roadrunner this time and we didn't want to miss it."

She rolled her eyes before taking Isabella upstairs to get her dressed, leaving House alone with his thoughts. He took a deep breath and blew it out. 'A baby,' he thought to himself. If somebody would've told him a year a two ago that he and Cuddy would be getting married and raising four kids with another on the way he would have started to look for other symptoms that they had to add it to his white board along with psychosis. He smiled at the thought of another kid. He was actually starting to like kids, well the four that lived with him anyway. He still didn't like other people's kids, example number one Blake. Before he could get into deep thought about the situation with Hayden, Cuddy came back into the living room and interrupted his thoughts.

"You are up already," she told him. "You might as well get ready and actually come to work on time today."

"And ruin my consecutive tardiness record?" he asked as if the comment offended him. "No thanks, but I'll pass."

"You know it's going to be hard to explain why I live in the same house as you, and I'm always at work on time and you're always late."

"Looks like you better start going in late," he told her.

She rolled her eyes at him, not having the time to sit and argue with him, since she was actually on the verge of being late.

"Could you at least get her something to eat while I get dressed?" she asked him.

"That I can do," he told her standing up from the sofa. He leaned over to try and kiss her, but she just walked past him.

"You're the one who trapped me," he yelled behind her, "and I get treated like this."

Her only response was the sound of the bedroom door slamming. He both smiled and cringed at the thought that it would be so easy to manipulate her feelings for the next few months. On one end, it would make his job of irritating her at work easier, but he would also be walking on eggshells to make sure he didn't land himself in too deep of a hole and that he didn't piss her off by mistake.

"Com'on," he said grabbing Isabella's hand. "Let's go get some grub."

He limped towards the kitchen as the little girl skipped along side of him, hand in hand.

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The rest of the day went on as usual. House arrived to work late and gave Cuddy hell about doing his clinic hours. The only thing out of the ordinary was that she had called him into her office to discuss further the wedding plans, telling him to call his mother and whoever else he wanted to invite, since she had never gotten to meet much of his family thanks to his father's rude behavior when she met him. He claimed he had time, but she told him to get on it asap because people needed to be notified ahead of time. He wasn't too worried about it, since the only person he had planned on inviting was his mother, and she would drop everything and be at the front door before he got the last syllable of the word wedding out. At the end of the day, he headed home on his bike, while Cuddy headed over to the preschool to pick up Isabella.

He rode his bike mulling over what he was going to say to Hayden. He had been thinking about it all day, and hadn't really come up with anything that he thought would help. He was truly going to have to wing it. When he arrived at home, he found Logan watching television while Madison had the phone glued to her ear talking to one of the girls from school.

"Where's Hayden?" he asked Logan.

"Backyard," the boy said too focused on the television to give more than a one word answer.

He went into the kitchen and saw the girl through the window that faced the backyard. She was jumping up and down on the trampoline, but her facial expressions made it seem as though she was in deep thought. He took a deep breath before walking into the backyard. He walked over to the trampoline and watched her as she continued to jump in silence for a little while. Before long, her curiosity got the best of her and she began talking.

"What now?" she asked sarcastically. "Are you sending me to an all girls school because you've decided that you don't like any of my guy friends?"

"Thought about it," he said honestly, "but passed on the idea."

She continued to jump as silence once again took over, but not for long.

"You know you can tell me why you came out here," she told him. "In case you haven't noticed, you and mom have the final say in everything I do in my life."

He took this as his queue to start talking.

"Your mom and I aren't trying to control your life," he told her.

"Well you're doing a pretty good job at doing what you aren't trying to do," she said still jumping at a steady rhythm. "You guys suck at not doing stuff."

He looked down at the ground in thought. 'This must be what people feel like when they are trying to talk to me,' he thought as a small smile appeared on his face. He looked up at her and continued talking.

"Sweetheart, believe me," he said feeling a little less uneasy since the conversation had been initiated and she was actually talking back, "we're just trying to do what's best for you. That's all I've ever tried to do."

"Yeah, okay," she said sarcastically.

He knew that comment and her response had just taken the focus off of the Blake situation. Usually he would shy away from the topic, but this was all about his oldest daughter, and he was willing to give his heart and let it be crushed, if only to save her a fraction of the heartache she would have to endure in life. So, he continued.

"Hayden do you know anything about my dad?"

"No," she said still in a snarky tone. "But I don't really know too much about my dad so...," she said leaving the sentence unfinished.

Her words were flaming daggers and he couldn't avoid any of them, but he was willing to fight through all of them and take every blow that they dealt because he knew that his baby girl was waiting for him at the other end wanting for him to wrap his arms around her and let her know that everything would be okay. She was hurting, she was acting the way he did, and he didn't want her to hurt anymore. He knew he couldn't give them back the years that they had missed together, or take away the hurt he had caused them during those years, but he was here now and he wanted to make it better now and for the rest of their lives. He let her words shoot through him, and continued talking.

"He was a very evil man," he told her. "He hated me, and I hated him."

She was now jumping in one specific spot, not turning her back to him as she had previously. She listened as he continued to talk.

"He made my life, and my mom's life a living hell. He was a terrible father," he said staring at the spot on the trampoline where she was jumping, "but he was the only father figure I ever had. He was the example of what I should be when I grew up got married and had kids. I thought I had no other choice but to become like him, to inflict upon you, your sister, and your mother the years of pain and abuse that he inflicted upon me and my mother. And I didn't want to do that," he said looking up at her, once he noticed her feet not leaving the trampoline anymore. "So I left. I didn't want to…and it was the most painful thing that I ever had to do. And I knew that it would haunt me for the rest of my life, but… I loved you guys…and I didn't want to put you through that. I thought you would eventually get over it and that I would be the only one forced to suffer the long term effects of my decisions. But I was willing to do that, if it would spare you guys the hurt that I had to endure at the hands of my so called 'father'. Long story short, my dad sucked and I knew I would be better off without him, I thought I would suck just as bad and wanted to give you a fighting chance at not being miserable like I was," he finished hoping she would understand his logic.

He decided to give her a chance to let that sink in and decide how she wanted to take it; if she wanted to accept it or not. He gave her a small smile before turning around to go back into the house. She just watched him, taking in what he had just said. Then she remembered what they were talking about before they got on the subject of his dad.

"Hey," she called out to him. He turned around slowly and looked at her. She just stared for a little while as if deciding if she wanted to continue and give him a little more leverage by letting him in just a little bit. She decided to continue. "I've never had sex with him," she told him. He looked at her only half relieved by her choice of words. She rolled her eyes at the realization, and continued, "Or anyone else."

He was visibly relieved as he gave her another smile and a nod of his head before turning around and going back into the house. Hayden smiled and shook her head at what she deemed the cluelessness of both her parents. She had never had sex with anyone, but she thought they should have known that. And she found it strangely comforting and amusing that her daddy was concerned about her relationship with boys, although she knew his obsession with monitoring her love life would drive her to the brink of insanity.

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**A/N: I'm glad you guys liked the surprise from the last chapter...lol. Althought I knew you would. **


	47. Chapter 47

House walked back into the kitchen and let out a sigh of relief, both for Hayden not having sex with anyone and for getting the first part of that much needed conversation over.

"What are you smiling about?" Cuddy asked walking into the kitchen.  
He looked up at her with the smile still plastered on his face. "She's not having sex, with him or anybody else."

"You asked her?" Cuddy asked a little shocked that he actually talked to her and relieved by the news.

He nodded his head. She looked out the window into the backyard where the girl was now sitting on the trampoline. She didn't look traumatized, she almost looked happy as she threw a tennis ball across the yard letting the dog bring it back to her.

"So I take it the conversation went well," she told him.

"Yup," he said, pleased with himself.

"I'm proud of you," she said as she walked over and planted a kiss on his lips.

Logan walked into the kitchen with another little green paper in his hand. Before he could even say anything she noticed it.

"Again?" she half yelled snatching the paper out of his hand. He just looked at her, not saying anything. "What did you do this time?"

He still didn't say anything as she opened the paper and began reading it for herself. She let out a short, frustrated laugh, as she finished reading the paper. She looked up at him, but he just stared at the floor.

"I'm tired, I can't deal with this right now," she told him slamming the paper down on the table. With that she left out of the kitchen and headed towards the bedroom.

The boy looked up at House who was just staring at him with a disapproving look on his face. He picked up the note and began reading it. He had to struggle to keep a smile from coming across his face, which wasn't too hard seeing as how the note upset Lisa and he would have to deal with her being mad at him too when he did nothing wrong.

"Why did you tell your teacher that he needed to get laid?" he asked.

"I don't know," the boy started out, knowing that punishment was unavoidable at this point. "The guy's a pain."

"You know that big party you and Hayden have been talking about?" House questioned in a brighter tone.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"You're not going," he said once again showing his anger in his voice.

"Aww com'on," the boy said. "The guy asked for it."

"And so did you," House said glaring at him as he walked out of the kitchen. He followed Cuddy's path into the bedroom. She was lying on her side about to doze off, when he crawled up behind her and put his arm around her waist with his hand on her stomach.

"What did you tell him?" she asked having heard the boy yell.

"No party next week," he said pulling her closer. He began rubbing her stomach. "This should be interesting."

"What should be interesting?" she asked turning on her back and opening her eyes to see him.

"To see if this kid is going to cause as much trouble as the rest of them," he told her. "You think we can save this one and the little one from becoming like the rest of them?"

"Sure," she told him, "until they hit puberty. Then the insanity will ensue all over again."

He looked at her for a little while scowling at the realization of what was to come. Then he remembered his conversation with Hayden and let the smile come to his face. "Well at least Hayden's not having sex."

She laughed at him. "What are you going to do when she starts having sex?"

"Not going to happen," he said trying to make himself believe that he could avoid the inevitable.

"You know it'll be better if you just accept that it is going to happen," she told him.

"No that's just it," he started, "you never have to accept it. It's on the back of the card. And if you do accept it, you risk getting your daddy card revoked."

"Well you are in for a rude awakening, with Hayden, Madison, Isabella, and possibly this one," she told him.

"No," he reassured her. "All the little boys that set foot through that door, they're the ones that are in for a rude awakening."

"Denial," she told him.

"You know we should tell them about the extra kid that's going to running around her soon," he reminded her.

"I'll tell them," she said, closing her eyes to try and resume her nap. "After I get some sleep."

He held her until she fell asleep. Then he slipped out of the bed and went back into the living room to order take out for him and the kids. He then sat down on the couch and joined everyone else watching television.

About forty five minutes later the take out arrived. A few minutes after that, Cuddy woke up to find everybody in the living room eating out of little white cartons with Chinese symbols on them. She was happy because she hadn't really eaten anything all day.

She sat down on the sofa next to Hayden who was sitting next to House. "What do you have?" she asked leaning over to take a peek in the box the girl was holding.

"My own," she said shifting away from her. She then picked up a box and handed it to her. "This is yours."

She took the box from the girl and opened it to find some vegetable fried rice. She ate some of it and before long stuck her chop sticks into one of the boxes sitting in the middle of the table and pulled out a piece of sweet and sour chicken. She put it in her mouth, but stopped when she saw Madison staring at her.

"What?" she asked her.

"Why are you eating meat?" the girl asked a little confused.

"Because I'm hungry," she told her.

"But you don't eat meat," the girl replied.

Cuddy just looked at the box in her hand as she placed more rice into her mouth. House just looked at her waiting for her to break the news. She swallowed the rice before replying. "Well I have to start because of the baby."

All of the kids' mouth fell open, but Hayden was the first to get something out.

"Wait, what baby?" she asked sitting up on the sofa.

"The baby I'm carrying," Cuddy told her, finally looking at the girl. "I'm pregnant."

"Are you crazy?" Madison asked her.

"Excuse me," Cuddy said surprised by her reaction.

"You can't have a baby," Hayden told her. "We don't have enough room for a baby."

"We're going to get a bigger house."

"You're not gonna hold me to that babysitting thing are you?" Logan asked. "I kinda thought you were kidding."

She just looked at him, in disbelief at all of their reactions.

"I thought you said that you weren't going to have another kid?" Madison told her.

"No, you said you didn't want me to have another kid," she corrected.

"Well why are you having one?" Madison replied.

"This is not happening," Hayden said slumping back into the couch.

Cuddy looked around the room at the three of them, and then to House. He just shrugged his shoulders, indicating he didn't know what to do or say.

"What is wrong with the three of you?" she asked standing up from the sofa. They all looked at her as she continued talking and tears welled in her eyes.. "You are all acting so selfish. This baby isn't even here yet, and you are acting like this. I am having a baby and you have seven months to accept it. It is your only option so I suggest you start learning to deal with it now."

She stormed out of the living room and none of them said anything until they heard the bedroom door slam shut.

"You are trying to get me killed in my sleep tonight aren't you?" House asked as he got up and walked out of the living room.

"Alright if it's that big of a deal, I'll babysit," Logan said.

"She seemed pretty upset," Madison said. "You think we should apologize?"

They were silent for a while, each of them in their own thoughts.

"Okay," Logan said standing up, "I feel bad enough, I think we should go and apologize."

"Wait, not yet," Hayden said holding out her hand to stop him before slumping further down into the sofa. "I need some time to think of something. You guys know I'm not good at apologizing."

Meanwhile, House was at the bedroom door. He knocked softly before opening it. He saw her lying on the bed crying. "Okay," he said walking over and lying next to her, "it's a little too early for you to be this hormonal, so why are you crying?"

She wiped away a few of her tears and tried to stop crying before she started talking. "Because I am the only one in this house who wants this baby."

"That's not true," he reassured her. "Izzy didn't say anything, and the dog likes kids so I'm sure he won't mind."

She didn't say anything and just stared at his chest. He took a deep breath and continued talking. "I'm kinda happy about it too," he finished.

She looked up at him and searched his eyes to see if he was telling the truth. "Really?" she asked him. "Because this morning it sure didn't sound like you were happy about it."

"Well I've had all day to get used to the idea," he said. "I was kinda blindsided by it this morning. I was still half asleep."

She still looked at him with questioning eyes as a smile appeared on her face. "So you do want this baby?" she asked him.

"Yeah I do," he said truthfully, leaving out the sarcastic reply of 'would it matter much if I didn't.'

She put her hand on the back of his head and brought his face closer to hers, then hesitated before lifting her head a little and kissing him. Before the kiss could escalate any further, they heard a knock on the bedroom door.

"Come in," she said moving House's hand from under her blouse as she sat up in the bed.

"You're not supposed to tell them to come in," he told her. "They would've gone away if you wouldn't have answered."

Madison entered the room first and sat on the end of the bed followed by Hayden and Logan who was holding Isabella. He sat Isabella down on the bed and she crawled into Cuddy's lap. Madison started talking first.

"Are you mad at us?" she asked Cuddy with a sad look on her face.

"Not anymore," she told her. "But I think you all need to get over yourselves and start to take a little bit more responsibility for yourselves."

"Whoa where is this coming from?" Hayden asked.

"Yeah, I only came in here to apologize and offer my babysitting services," Logan said. "I didn't think I was going to get lectured."

"Especially you two," she said motioning towards Hayden and Logan ignoring their comments. "You only have two more years of high school left after this year," she told Hayden, then looked over to Logan, "and you only have one more."

"Seriously what does this have to do with the baby?" Hayden asked.

"I am going to need help around here once this baby comes," she said.

"Isn't that what he's for?" Hayden asked pointing to House.

"I think he's already helped enough," Logan added, shooting him an accusing look.

"Hey leave me out of this," he replied. "I've already had my lecture for the day."

"Well it's your fau…,"

"I'm not just talking about the baby," Cuddy said cutting her off. "I'm talking about taking responsibility for you. I shouldn't have to come home and make you to do your homework or clean your rooms and everything else. You have to start being more responsible."

"Okay, I get it," Logan said, "I'll try not to get anymore detentions, and do better. Just stop already you're making me feel old... And sorry about the baby thing, I'll watch the kid if you need me to."

"Yeah, sorry," Madison said.

"Me too," Hayden replied. "Oh, and when you guys buy a house can you buy one with a pool?"

"Yeah," Logan chimed in, "but make sure it has a huge backyard, so the pool won't take up the whole backyard.

"And make sure it has a patio," Madison added.

"Are any of you by any chance putting any money towards the down payment or the mortgage?" House asked. "Because if you're not I don't think you should be making any requests."

"We'll see," Cuddy said ignoring him.

"This was nice," Logan started after a short period of silence. "Can I go to the party next weekend?"

"No," House and Cuddy replied in unison.

"Didn't hurt to try," he said leaving the room.

"You can't go to Taylor's party?" Hayden asked laughing a little as she and Madison followed him out of the room.

"Shut up," he told her.

"You're not going to go with them?" House asked Isabella who was still sitting in Cuddy's lap.

She smiled at him and shook her head.

"Didn't think so," he told her.  
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It was now Saturday morning, and House was managing to sleep pretty late; not as late as he was used to sleeping at his apartment, but pretty late compared to other mornings since he had moved in with Cuddy. It wouldn't last too long though. He was abruptly awakened from a sound sleep when Isabella ran into the room and quickly crawled into the bed wedging herself between him and Cuddy, waking them both.

"What's wrong?" Cuddy asked the frightened little girl, feeling her heart pound against her arm. She didn't have time to reply before they heard the other two girls' loud screams coming from outside of the bedroom. He immediately jumped up and limped out of the room as fast as he could, with Cuddy right on his heels with Isabella in her arms. When he got to the entrance that led to the living room he saw Hayden and Madison in a corner and Logan standing facing them with his back turned to the archway. After no one seemed to be in any immediate danger, he knew it was just another_ pleasant _Saturday morning wake up call. Logan turned around with his right arm outstretched and a huge grin spread across his face.

"Oh God," Cuddy said as she tightened her grip on House and hid her face behind him, after seeing the huge tarantula crawling up the boy's arm. "Where did that thing come from?"

"Bryce is out of town this weekend and he told me I could keep it until he gets back," he said. "Cool huh?"

"No, it is not cool," she told him.

"Mom, tell him that thing can't stay here," Madison piped out from the corner.

"He's already left," the boy informed him. "I can't just leave it outside."

"Well do something with it," she told him, still hiding behind House.  
House grabbed the plastic tank from the table next to the archway and walked over to the boy. He grabbed the spider and placed inside before putting the top back on. He then handed it to the boy.

"Keep it in this box, in your room until he comes to get it," he told him in a stern tone.

"Yes sir," the boy said leaving to go put the aquarium in his room, not wanting to get banned from another weekend event.

Instead of trying to make another attempt at sleep, House slowly walked into the kitchen and started to make a pot of coffee. This is what his life had become, and no matter how bad he wanted to hate it, he couldn't bring himself to do it. What he had gained was worth far more than he had given up.  
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After eating breakfast and taking a shower, House slowly made his way upstairs to check on Logan since he hadn't come down from his room after he went to put the spider away. He watched the boy from the crack in the door as he seemed to be cleaning his room. He was throwing different things in the trash bin nonchalantly, but stopped to read something that seemed of importance to him. Hesitantly, he threw the letter and the envelope in the trash too. He pushed the door open further and walked in.

"Hey," the boy said looking up at him before picking up some clothes and starting to put them away. "Thought I'd clean up my room, so it wouldn't be as easy to lose the spider in here if I take it out to play with it."

"Good idea," House said picking up the bag of trash as the boy turned his back to put some clothes into his closet. "We don't want anyone freaking out again."

He began going through the trash until he came across what looked like the letter and the envelope that the boy had reluctantly thrown away. He pulled it out and sat the bag back on the floor. He saw on the envelope that the letter was from Yale. After reading the letter, he saw the school was inviting the boy and his parents to visit the school. They seemed to be pretty interested in him. He remembered the boy saying something when he was younger about Yale. It seemed to have been an agreement between him and his father that he would attend the school some day.

"What's this?" he asked holding up the envelope.

"Nothing," he said starting to go through more papers.

"Doesn't seem like it's nothing," he said. The boy didn't say anything, and started tossing some more papers in the tras. "So you gonna go?"

He laughed a little as if the question was a joke. "As if I they're gonna accept me."

"It seems like they will," House started as he sat in the desk chair and started swiveling it a little. "If you keep up your grades and keep doing what you're doing, and manage not to get expelled from one of the most well known high schools in the area; which I think you are pretty close to doing."

He knew the boy's grades were pretty good, other than the little mishap, and he had witnessed for himself how he could work wonders on a computer, having had him hack into Wilson's personal account at the hospital. He was involved in school clubs and all that other stuff colleges looked for when recruiting students. All he had to do was ace the SAT's and he was a shoe in.

"You really think they would accept me?" he asked earnestly.

"Yeah, unless you've got some kind of criminal record that I don't know about," he said.

The boy picked the letter up off of the desk and started to read over it again.

"So are you gonna go?" he asked again.

Logan hesitated for a little while, before answering. "Will you come with me?" House looked at the boy surprised that he would ask him to tag along.

"You don't want Lisa to go with you?" he asked a little confused.

"Well," the boy started, "I had always planned on making this trip with my dad, and since he's not here, and you and him became friends in the little time you knew each other…and since I'm about to ask you for fifty bucks, I figured who better to come along."

House studied the boy for a while as he awaited his answer. "I'll go with you under one condition."

"What? That I don't ask you for fifty bucks?"

"No," he told him.

"So you're going to give me the fifty bucks?"

"Can you focus for a second?" House asked. If it was one thing that he had learned since he moved into this house it was that girls were sensitive and obsessive and boys were uninhibited and scatterbrained.

"Sorry, go ahead."

"I'll take you if you can manage to stay out of trouble the rest of time you have in school," he told him.

"Wow," the boy said. "That's kind of a lot to ask. That's the rest of this school year and all of next year."

"This school year ends in a few weeks so it's really just one more year. Plus if you keep on getting into trouble like you are, you are going to get expelled and it wouldn't make any since for me to take you to visit Yale because they probably won't accept you then."

The boy looked at the letter and let out a heavy sigh. "Okay," he started. "I'll try."

"Good enough," he said.

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A/N: Sorry about the long wait for the update, but life's been crazy lately. Anyways, read, enjoy and don't forget to comment!!!!!!!!


	48. Chapter 48

House was in his office, with the only light being the one coming from the lamp on his desk. The hospital had closed down for the night, and Lisa had left more than an hour ago. He was twirling his cane effortlessly while he tried to think of more causes for the patient's symptoms, while his team was running more tests. It felt weird staying late working on a case, now that he had someone to actually go home to, responsibilities that actually awaited him. He missed the kids a little when he barely got to see them. When he had a case he would usually get home too late, and they would be asleep, and when they left for school in the morning he would be asleep. Logan would occasionally fall asleep on the sofa, and he would have to wake the boy to tell him to go get in his bed. He would then go check on the girls, and sometimes had to take their cell phones from their limp hands. On these nights Lisa would allow Isabella to sleep in their bed. He would sometimes wake her when he got into bed and she would open her eyes and smile at him sleepily before asking about his patient. He would only tell her if they had found out what was wrong with the patient or not, not going into too much detail, allowing her to easily fall back to sleep. He would toss back a couple of vicodins, to numb the pain in his leg, before he too fell asleep. Having cases and not being able to spend as much time with them as he did when he didn't have cases, made his time with them all the more valuable. Having them at home also made him appreciate his work at the hospital more. It was time to himself that he got to enjoy practicing one of his favorite past times, solving puzzles.

He was awakened from his thoughts about his patient, by the sound of his office phone ringing. He thought it would be Lisa making her routine call to him on nights when he had to stay at the hospital. He answered the phone expecting to hear her voice on the other end. But instead he was met with a silence before a familiar female voice came over the speaker.

"Hello Greg," he heard her say.

This time it was his turn to offer his silence. "Greg?" she questioned again from the other end of the phone. The sound of her voice the second time allowed him to reassure himself that it was who he actually thought it was on the other end of the phone.

"Stacy," he said quietly.

"I was thinking about you and thought I'd call to see how you were doing," she said nervously.

"I'm," he hesitated as smile came to his face. He hadn't heard from her in a while and he was happy to hear her voice. "I'm doing fine. What about you?"

"I'm good," she said. "Everything's coming along fine on this end. Mark's doing great with his therapy and he's been out of his wheelchair for a while now."

"That's good," he replied before silence took over the conversation once again. She was the first to speak.

"I heard," she started, then stopped to regain her composure. But he could still detect a little hint of sadness in her voice. "I heard you and Lisa were getting married."

"Yeah we are," he told her, "in a couple of months."

"Wow that soon huh?"

"Yeah, we recently found out we've got another kid on the way and she wants to do it before she starts showing," he told her.

"Sounds exciting."

"Yeah," he agreed.

"Well I was just calling to see how you were, but it sounds like things couldn't get any better for you," she said.

"No," he said. "They couldn't."

"Well I have to go now," she said. "Congratulations, and pass on my best wishes to Lisa."

"I will," he assured her.

"Goodbye Greg," she said sounding a little dejected.

"G'bye Stace." He let the phone dangle in his hand a little while before placing it back in its cradle. He smiled to himself as the phone conversation ran through his thoughts again along with other memories from his past with her. He smiled at the thought of the times they shared together, and everything else they shared between themselves. He loved her and he always would, but he was in love with Lisa, and he had everything he wanted and need with her. He looked up from his desk upon hearing his office door open.

"Patient's stable, all the tests were negative," Foreman told him.

"Any new symptoms?

"Nope."

"Well," House said standing up and gathering his things. "Call me if anything new comes up. I'm going home."

Foreman nodded his head and left in the direction he had just come from. It was still kind of early, so he called ahead to see if he could still catch Lisa awake.

* * *

He pulled up into the driveway and didn't see any light coming from any of the windows. He took that as a sign that everyone else was asleep. He just hoped that Lisa had put Isabella in Madison's bed instead of letting her sleep in their bed. He placed his back pack on the table in the foyer and slowly made his way to the bedroom. The light coming from the hallway allowed him to see that the little girl was indeed not in their bed. A smile spread across his face as he slipped out of his shoes and his shirt before joining her in the bed. He crawled up behind her as she lay on her side. He wrapped his arm around her and started to caress her through the short silk night gown she had on while he kissed on her neck. He did this until he started to hear her moan a little. He then rolled her on her back as he positioned himself over her.

"Home early?" she asked with a smile as she felt his finger tips playing at the hem of the soft fabric that stopped less than midway her thighs.

"Mmmm," was his only reply as he continued sucking on her neck and collarbone. He brought his lips to hers and began kissing her passionately, as his fingers still continued to trail their way up her thigh, pushing the night gown up as he went. He stopped when he felt the lace of her panties, which was also indicated when her breath hitched and she let out a soft moan as his fingers brushed against her. He parted her thighs and used his left leg to balance himself as he positioned both of his legs in between hers. He slid his fingers under her panties and began to stroke her gently as her moans grew a little louder and more constant. He then slipped his fingers between her folds, and began rubbing his thumb over her clit. Her back arched a little and soft cry of pleasure escaped her lips as he broke the kiss.

"Maybe I should start coming home early more often," he said after slipping his fingers further down to her entrance and feeling how wet she was. He spread her wetness around watching the pleasure filled expressions on her face, before removing his hand.

"Maybe you should," she said biting her lip and lifting her hips off of the bed so he could slide her panties off.

"Wish I could," he said looking down at her as she smiled up at him seductively. He started undoing his pants. "Really wish I could, but I'm being bullied into buying a new House soon. " He started to slide his pants and his boxers down his legs. "Wouldn't want to get fired," sliding them completely off and repositioning himself between her legs.

"Shut…," her words got caught in her throat as she felt his swollen member sliding inside of her. "Oh, God," she let out in a breathy whisper as he began to pick up a rhythm.

"Really?" he grunted out. "I mean I've been told that I'm good, but God?"

She didn't respond, she couldn't. She just bit down lightly on his shoulder as she began to move her hips against him. He began to pick up speed and she wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him deeper into her, if it was possible. His grunts and her moans were echoing throughout the room, along with the wet sounds of him thrusting into her slick, heated sex. He suddenly felt a cramp in his left thigh.

"Ahhhh," he said falling to the side of her, careful not to fall on the growing bulge that was once her flat, tight stomach.

"What's wrong?" she asked concerned as she sat up and put a hand on his chest.

"My leg," he said out of breath.

"Do you want me to get your pills?" she asked as she started to reach over him to get the pills that he kept in the nightstand on his side of the bed.

"No," he said. "Not that leg, the other one. I got a cramp."

He grabbed her arm and her leg and pulled her on top of him so she was straddling him. He then slid his hands under nightie and gripped her bare hips, using his hold on her to bring her down forcefully onto his erection. She put her hand on his chest to catch her balanced, but recovered quickly as she began to move her hips slowly up and down his long, hard shaft. He still held firm to her hips, and urged her to pick up her pace. He watched her as she leaned her head back and bit her lip as she continued to roll her hips on top of him.

"Shit Lise," he let out in a low rugged tone as she began to clench her muscles around him and roll her entire body, making him feel every bit of every move that she made with her hips. He saw the smile form on her lips as he used his grip on her hips to try and make her slow her pace, or at least break it before he lost control of himself. He saw that she wasn't having any of that and she kept doing what she was doing, and her smile grew bigger knowing she was getting to him. Determined not to let her get him off before he got her off, he began to thrust his hips upwards into her, making her let out a small cry. He began to thrust his hips upwards more forcefully, quickly picking up her rhythm. Before long he felt her muscles start to clench around him and her breathing grow more labored.

"Mhhmmm, Greg," she moaned no longer being able focus enough to keep up her rhythm. He still continued to thrust upwards knowing she was close. He didn't say anything as he too was close to his orgasm. One last thrust from him, made her let out another cry of pleasure as her muscles began to contract uncontrollably around him, and she felt him release his warmth into her. She collapsed on his chest as they both lay, waiting for their breathing to return to normal. He was the first to speak.

"But seriously, God?" She slapped him on the chest playfully. Before long they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Okay, Ashley's outside. I'm leaving," Hayden said walking into the kitchen.

"Hold on," Lisa said stopping her from running out the kitchen. She walked over to the archway where the girl stood. "I want you to come home with Ashley, and you have to be home by midnight. And call me if you're going to be late or if anything comes up. No drinking , no drugs…,"

"No Blake," House chimed in. "Or any other boys for that matter."

She rolled her eyes at him playfully. "Don't worry if there are boys there I won't even stay. I'll just call you to come and pick me up."

"Great," he said ignoring her sarcasm and knowing that there would in fact be boys there. "We have an understanding then."

"Bye mom," she said laughing a little before running out of the kitchen.

He studied the doorway that Hayden had just disappeared through, with a look of concern on his face. The thought of his little girls growing up and becoming interested in boys, still worried him a little, but he was learning to cope with it. He felt a familiar, softer and smaller hand slip into his hand.

"Com'on," Lisa said with a smile, "we have houses to look at.

* * *

Hayden got to the entrance of the pool house holding hands with her friend Ciara and already dancing having heard the new Black Eyed Peas song since they pulled up at the house. She, Ciara, and Ashley slowly made their way through the crowd of mostly familiar faces, and stopped in the middle of the huge crowd of people that were dancing. They began to dance along with them as the people standing on the outside of the circle just watched or stood around holding conversations. She hadn't been dancing five minutes when she felt some one come up behind her and put their hand on her hip. She spun around quickly and a huge smile came to her face as she saw Blake standing behind her. She threw her arms around his neck and he wrapped one arm around her waist.

"When did you get here?" she asked him.

"Just now," he told her. "We pulled up right behind you guys."

"Hey Blake," Hayden heard a familiar annoying voice come from behind her.

"What's up Brit," he said with his arm still wrapped around Hayden.

"Hayden," the girl said with a little attitude.

Hayden just smiled sarcastically before rolling her eyes.

"You wanna dance?" the girl continued with a smile, as she turned her attention back to Blake.

"Maybe later," he told her. "I'm gonna chill with Hayden right now."

The smile disappeared off of her face as she glared at Hayden. "Bye Britney," Hayden said with a wave.

She ended up hanging with Blake for most of the night before meeting back up with Ciara and Ashley.

"Where have you been?" Ciara asked her.  
She just smiled.

"As if you need to ask that," Ashley said rolling her eyes playfully.

"Oh my god," Ciara said as her face turned red, "Justin's coming this way. What do I do?"

"You can stop freaking out for one," Hayden told her.

"Really," Ashley agreed. "He's just a guy. A very hot guy, but still just a guy."

"Okay, okay," she said trying to calm down.

"Hey," Justin said stopping in front of them.

"Hey," they all said in unison, trying to seem calm.

"Ciara right?" he asked.

"Right," she said still smiling.

"Me and one of my friends are about to go for a ride. I was wondering if you wanted to come with us," he told her.

"I uhh…," she turned around and looked at her friends for some quick advice. They both just shrugged their shoulders not knowing what to tell her. Before she could answer him, Blake walked up to them.

"So what's up," he said looking at Hayden. "You guys coming or what?"

"Well," Hayden said a little caught off guard, "I don't know, we came here with Ashley, I don't know whe…" she tried but Ashley cut her off.

"Oh, no, if you guys wanna go I'll wait for you," she offered eagerly.

Hayden just stared at them still trying to decide. She knew she wasn't supposed to leave the party with anyone other than Ashley without her parents' permission. She also knew that her dad didn't want her hanging out with Blake, she figured the party would be okay since it was an open social environment with other people there.

"Hayden," Ciara said, making her turn her head to look at her. "I'm not going if you're not."

She knew her friend really wanted to go, because she really liked the boy. Unfortunately, this was one of those moments in her teenage life where her logical decision making started to malfunction.

"Yeah," she said with an unsure smile on her face. "Lets go."

Five minutes later Justin and Ciara were in the front seats of Justin's Honda Accord while Hayden and Blake were in the back seat. They were speeding up the highway.

"Hey Blake, look under the passenger seat. There's a small brown paper bag back there," Justin said from the front seat.  
Blake did as asked and found the small bag and pulled it out from under the seat. He reached into the bag and pulled out one of the small bottles of Vodka.

"Nice," He said handing one to Justin, before opening the other bottle.

"Where'd you guys get that?" Ciara asked them becoming a little worried.

"My brother got it for me," he told her taking a drink from the bottle.

"You guys aren't supposed to be drinking," Hayden said.

"Relax babe," Blake said putting his arm around her and pulling her closer and kissing her. He extended the bottle to her and she held her hand up to decline, before pulling away from him.

"I think you guys should take us back to the party now," Hayden said. "It's getting late." It was only eleven o'clock, she had time, but she really wanted to get out of that car.

"Chill Hayden," Justin said from the front seat. "We'll have you back in plenty of time to meet your curfew."

She rolled her eyes at him, not liking the mocking tone he had used with her.

"So where's your lame brother?" Blake asked her as he took another drink from the bottle. "I didn't see him at the party." All of their friends had referred to them as brother and sister, since everyone actually thought they were brother and sister being that they were so close and always at each others houses.

"He's not lame," she said quietly, really wishing Logan was there at the time to help get her out of the situation. Really she would've wanted anyone there at the time, even her dad, especially her dad.

"Could you please, watch the road," Ciara yelled at Justin. He just looked over at her with glossy eyes and a goofy grin.

"Relax," he told her still looking at her. "I've got this."

"Justin slow down," Hayden commanded from the back seat.

"Could you guys just chill," he yelled back . "I know how to drive."

"If we'd have known you guys would've been this uptight, we would've asked Britney and Jolie to come along with us," Blake said quietly.

"What?" Hayden asked looking at him, hurt and a little shock by what he had just said. She had heard the rumors about him and Britney, but didn't know if they were true or not. She didn't have time to get too upset, before she heard Ciara scream from the front seat.

"Justin, look out!"

Hayden turned to see the boy dodge a pair of headlights. She felt the car swerve across the highway as the boy tried to gain control of the car. The car struck something and she felt a sharp pain throughout her body, before everything went black.

* * *

"What about this one?" Cuddy asked as she reached for the paper in House's right hand.

They were sitting on the sofa looking over some of the homes their realtor had given them. The house was fairly quiet, and this was the first time they had actually had time to start the process. Her legs were draped across House's left thigh and she rested her back half on the armrest and half way on the back of the sofa, as she stroked her pudgier than usual stomach. She was now three months along and starting to show a little through her clothes. Madison was upstairs probably talking on the telephone, while Logan had fallen asleep early probably due to his boredom after not being able to go to the party. Isabella lay sleeping on the other side of him, being worn out as she usually was by the end of the week.

"Six bedroom, four and a half baths," she said describing it to him.

"Seven-hundred and fifty thousand dollars," he said calling her attention to the price.

"Well it works," she told him. "We're not going to find another one that has what we want for much cheaper."

"Why are we buying another house anyway?" he asked her.

"Because," she started. "Even though Logan and Hayden will be going to college soon, we'll still have a guest bedroom, and they'll each have their own rooms when they come home to visit."

"I say we just make a rule, that once you move out you can't come back," he told her, "even if it's just for the weekend. And are these guests going to be paying while they're here."

She rolled her eyes at him, as she reached for her cell phone off of the end table. When she saw that it was Cameron, she thought it was just another call from the hospital needing her to give permission to do a procedure or something like that. She wasn't as worried, since House was sitting right there in front of her.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Cuddy, you need to get to the hospital as soon as possible," Cameron said.

"Cameron, what's wrong?" she asked sitting up on the sofa sensing the panic in her voice.

"There's been a car accident," she said. "They're bringing Hayden in right now. I don't know if it's her, but I heard that two of the kids are in really bad shape."


	49. Chapter 49

Lisa stopped outside of the glass doors of his office and watched him through the windows as he looked at what appeared to be the images from their daughter's CT. By the time they had arrived at the hospital, Cameron had already sent her in for a CT, since she was complaining of head and neck pains, and doused her with some pain medicine which made her sleep. She had also scheduled her another CT for the next morning to make sure they had not missed anything on the first one. Luckily for her, she only had a broken leg and moderated case of whiplash from the sudden impact of hitting the tree. Unfortunately the two kids in the front seat had suffered much more severe injuries, and both were in ICU one in stable condition and the other in critical condition. She had opted not to tell Hayden this information, during the little while she was awake, knowing that it would upset her. House had taken Logan outside of the hospital after he had gotten into a fist fight with Blake. He escaped the incident with only a few cuts and bruises, and Logan had taken it upon himself to give him a few more, when he saw him in the ER. A while later Logan had came back into the room, but House was no where to be seen. She knew exactly where to find him. She knew he wouldn't be satisfied until he read the images himself. In a way, she was happy because she wouldn't be satisfied either until him or one of his present or past ducklings had read them, and since Cameron hadn't had time to read them herself and her nerves were a little too wrecked to read them, she was still a little worried.

"What are you doing?" she asked opening the door to his office.

He let out a deep sigh, still looking at the images he held in his hand. "Just trying to make sure she's okay," he started, "before I kill her."

She smiled at him because she was thinking the same thing.

"Let's wait until the results of the second CT come back before we do that, but I've got first dibs," She told him.

He smirked and looked up at her. "How are you doing?" he asked her. He knew that the news must have rattled her and wanted to make sure that she was dealing with it okay.

"I'm fine," she told him putting her hand on her stomach. "Maddie, Logan, and I are going to get something to eat. Izzy's in my office asleep, Lydia's watching her," she said referring to one of the night nurses. "You want something?"

"No," he mumbled returning his attention back to the images.

"Could you go sit with her?" she told him. "She's starting to stir and she should be waking up again soon. I want one of us to be there, when she does."

He didn't answer, and rose to his feet after taking one last look at the images. He grabbed his cane and put his hand on the small of her back as he led her out of the office. "Okay," he started, "but if you're not back, by the time she wakes up, I'm going to go ahead and kill her without you."

She turned to get onto the elevator and he went the opposite way. He got to the girl's room, and saw that she was still asleep. She had a few cuts and bruises on her face, but nothing to severe. Any trace of them would be gone in a few weeks. She was lying on her side with the light from the hallway lighting up her face. He couldn't help but to take a sigh of relief. He knew things could have been worse, they could have lost her. One of the kids was in ICU right now with her brain swelling after going through the windshield head first, and the other stable, but in danger of losing a lung after it had collapsed. The boy was in stable condition, but it wasn't looking to good for the girl. If they didn't find a way to stop her brain from swelling, she was going to die.

He sat down in the chair across the room from her and watched her as she slept. She stirred a little, but after she didn't wake, he rested his head on his cane a looked down at the floor. He stared at the floor thinking about all the ways the night could have gone more horribly for them, and realizing how grateful he was that they had not. He thought about how their relationship used to be. The biggest thing he had to worry about when it came to her was her throwing a tantrum because she wanted a new doll out of a toy store that her mother refused to buy, and she thought boys were gross. Now she was riding around in cars with kids that were drinking and all she thought about was boys. Soon she would be leaving to go to college and before you know it she would be getting married. This made him miss the time he had missed with them more than before, which he didn't think was possible. It seemed like yesterday they had bought her home from the hospital and stayed up almost all night feeding her and changing her diapers.  
He stayed like this a few more minutes before he heard a soft voice coming from the bed across the room from him.

"Daddy," she called to him, her voice sounding so small; the exact opposite of how she usually sounded. He barely recognized it as her own voice. His head shot up and he looked at her, still in his seated position. He was conflicted, wanting to yell at her and hold her and never let her out of his arms again. She sat up in the bed slowly and looked at him, and he looked at her, still not sure of what he wanted to do. Then her face started to frown and the tears started to come.

"Oh daddy," she said through her sobs as he got up quickly from his seat and made his way over to her; completely forgetting about wanting to kill her, for now anyway. Before he could make it all the way over to her she had held out her arms to him. He wrapped his arms around her as she continued to cry. She tried to explain to him, but he couldn't make out what she was saying through her sobs. All he heard was, 'it was stupid' and 'daddy I'm so sorry' as she repeated it a few times throughout her explanation and an occasional 'I was so scared'.

"Shhhh," he tried to quiet her and kissed the crown of her head, "its okay baby, daddy's here. I got you."

She stopped trying to explain and continued crying as he stroked her hair. Her tears slowed, but she still held on tight to him, and he didn't dare loosen his grip on her.

"Daddy?" she said through a few sniffles.

"Yeah?" he replied resting his chin on the top of her head. He couldn't help, but to smile at the realization that she was calling him daddy again.

"You were right," she continued, "boys are stupid."

His smile grew bigger, and he started to laugh a little bit, knowing that she would feel that way only until she developed her next crush.

"It's not funny," she said in a stern tone, looking up at him. She smiled at him through her tears.

"Sorry sweetie," he said and kissed her forehead.

She rested her head back on his chest. "I should've listened to you. Then none of this would have happened."

"If it makes you feel any better Logan punched him in the jaw and gave him another black eye," he told her as she slid over for him to set next to her on the bed.

"Good," she said laying her head on his shoulder.

He smiled knowing that she still needed him. When she was little, she would always run to him crying when she was scared or upset about anything, from her mother telling her she couldn't have a candy she wanted to scraping her knee out on the playground. It always seemed that a simple hug from him could comfort her and take away her pain. He was glad to see that he could still comfort her, and though he may not have been able to heal a broken heart, he knew that being there for her made it that much better.

"Hayden, you know I love you," he told her, "and I always have…"

"I know," she said cutting him off. "I love you too daddy." He smiled as she closed her eyes prepared to drift off into another drug induced sleep.

About fifteen minute later Lisa, Madison, and Logan arrived back at the room, with bags of fast food. They all sat around eating and talking and Hayden was soon awake again after hearing their voices.

"Hey baby, how are you feeling?" Lisa asked walking over to her bed.

"I feel fine," she said tiredly, "just a little sore."

"We'll you'll have plenty of time to lay around the house and let your body recover," she told her with a smile, "because you're grounded."

"Glad to see you're concerned about how I feel, mom," she said sarcastically.

"Hayden I am concerned about how you feel," she corrected her with a stern look. "I am just as concerned about you learning your lesson from this and this not happening again. You disobeyed your father and me and got in the car with two boys who were drinking."

"I didn't know they would be drinking," she said quietly.

"Well either way you should have gotten out of the car, and called me so I could have come to get you," she told her. "You could have died tonight. Usually I trust you Hayden, but that wasn't a smart thing to do, especially after I told you not to leave with anyone other than Ashley."

"I know, I'm sorry," she said looking down at her hands as she twirled her thumbs. She then thought about her friend that was in the car with her. "Is Ciara okay?"

Greg and Lisa just looked at each other, as the three other pairs of eyes rested on them waiting for an answer.

"I don't know," Lisa said brushing a strand of hair out of the girl's face, "I have Dr. Cameron keeping me updated on her condition."

The room grew a little quieter, only filled by the sound of the television. About and hour later, one of the nurses came to get Hayden to put her cast on after the swelling in her leg had gone down, and Lisa went with her. A few minutes later Lydia brought Isabella into the room. She had awaken, and started crying for Lisa, but settled for House once she saw him. She was soon nestled next to him in the hospital bed fast asleep again.

About forty-five minutes later the nurse wheeled Hayden back into the room, while Lisa walked behind them. She was about to go into the room but Cameron stopped her at the door. She turned around and walked closer to her. House couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could tell from the looks on both their faces that it wasn't good news. Lisa fought to hold back tears as she looked into the room and then back to Cameron again. Madison had been watching them the whole time, and she too knew something was wrong.

"Mom?" she said hesitantly as Lisa walked back into the room. "What's wrong?"

She looked around the room as the three teenagers looked at her waiting for her to answer. House looked down at the floor, already having an idea of what she was about to say.

"Uhmm," she started not really knowing how to say it, and still fighting back tears. "Dr. Cameron just came to inform me of Ciara's condition."

"She's gonna be okay isn't she?" Hayden asked sitting up in the bed.

"I'm sorry baby," she said as a few tears escaped her eyes. "She didn't make it."

The kids were shocked for a few moments and Madison was the first to react. Lisa walked over to her and wrapped her arms around the girl as she began to cry. Hayden put both her hands up to her face as her body began to jerk. House went over to her and put his arms around her pulling her to his chest, as she continued to cry. Logan just turned around leaned against the glass window with his forearm. He rested his forehead on his arm as a few silent tears managed to escape from him. Lisa took one arm from around Madison and rubbed his back. They stayed like that for a while. Hayden and Madison soon cried themselves to sleep, while Logan opted to take a walk around the hospital. He soon found his way back to the hospital room to find Hayden, Isabella, and Madison sharing the hospital bed. With House stretched on one of the huge hospital chairs and Cuddy curled up next to him. He took up residence in the other hospital chair and soon fell asleep too.  
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The next morning they were awaken by Foreman coming into the room to get Hayden for her second CT. Lisa and Greg took the opportunity to go and offer their condolences to Ciara's family. The hallway was packed full of some kids from the neighborhood and other kids she had seen when picking the kids up from school. She could tell that most of them had been crying, and those that hadn't were on the verge of doing so. The ones that knew her as Hayden's mom stopped her and asked her how Hayden was doing and told her to tell her that they'd be over to visit her later on. A few minutes after they got back to the room, Foreman brought Hayden back into the room. Her second CT was clear also.

The rest of the day went by with kids stopping by to pay Hayden a visit. She was discharged around 3:30 and sent home with some pain medicine and a pair of crutches. The house was fairly quiet for the next few days as Ciara's funeral approached. Hayden seemed a little depressed and had told them she felt that if she hadn't got in the car Ciara would still be alive. They made her see that it wasn't much she could have done to prevent what happened. Even Ashley had told her that if she hadn't gone that night, Ciara probably would have made her come instead. Lisa and Greg went a little lighter on Hayden's punishment, figuring that Ciara's death taught her a lesson more than any punishment would. The next couple of weeks went by slowly, and the house started to feel a little more alive as the kids started to come to terms with the death of their friend.

* * *

"Do we really have to be here?" Hayden asked as she rode into the exam room via piggy back courtesy of Logan. She was too lazy to use her crutches all the time and complained a lot. He had offer to give her a piggy back ride up the stairs at home once, just to shut her up and stop her from getting on his nerves, and had become her personal chauffeur every time she was _too_ _tired _to use the crutches.

"Yes," Lisa said as she stretched out on the exam table.

She was scheduled for her second sonogram today and wanted them all to be there since they had missed the first one, and also because they were going to find out the sex of the baby. She was now four and a half months along and starting to show more. Of course they all had objected to being in the room, but she made them come anyway.

"There isn't going to be anything gross is there?" Logan asked dropping Hayden down in a chair. "Because I almost threw up a lung watching Nat Geo's In The Womb."

Lisa rolled her eyes at him.

"No he really did," Madison came to his defense. "I was a little nauseous myself. They showed a little bit more than I needed to see."

"Nothing gross I promise. Is this it?" Dr. Robinson asked smiling at the kids.

"No," Lisa told her. As soon as she said it the door opened again and House walked in holding Isabella, both of them had red suckers in their hands.

"You said there was a baby," she said looking at House confused.

"There is," he told her taking the sucker out of his mouth, as he sat down on the chair next to Cuddy's head. "It's in Lisa's tummy."

"She ate it?" the little girl asked with a confused look on her face, making everyone in the room laugh.

"No, sweetie," Lisa corrected her. "I'll explain it to you later, when you get older."

"Just explain it to her now mom," Hayden said, before taken it upon herself to do so. "You see Izzy, there's this thing about the birds and the bees. Personally I never understood the metaphor," she said getting side tracked.

"I know," Logan agreed with a confused look on his face. "You would think it would be the bees and the flowers, or the birds and…the birds."

"Anyways, what Hayden was trying to say Izzy is that…," Madison tried to continue but was cut off by Lisa.

"Madison be quiet, and that goes for the rest of you too," she warned, as House smiled amused by the conversation that was unfolding. He couldn't ask for better kids.

"I wanna know where babies come from," Isabella demanded and got a variety of answers that included the cabbage patch, the stork, the hospital, and bees. Dr. Robinson had no other choice but to laugh at them.

"Okay," she said still laughing a little as she started to put the jelly on Lisa's belly, "ready to see what you're having."

Lisa smiled at her before turning her head to the monitor. She took the wand and placed it on her stomach and moved it around a little bit.

"Is this like a commercial," Logan said when the image they were looking for didn't show up on the screen right away.

"Shut up," Madison said laughing at him.

"There's the head," Dr. Robinson said as part of the image they were looking for appeared on the screen. She moved the wand over a little more to get the full length of the baby onto the monitor. "Can anyone tell what it is?" she asked them.

They all stared at the screen for a little while, the kids brows furrowed.

"I don't know," Madison started, "but its head is huge."

"It is not," Lisa tried to defend, "making Hayden, Logan, and House laugh.

"Yeah, okay," Hayden said sarcastically.

"No guesses?" Dr. Robinson asked, after it grew quiet again.

"Either it has a tail," Logan started, "or it's a boy."

They all looked at the doctor as she studied the screen. A smile came across her face as she confirmed, "Yup, it's a boy."

Lisa heard two excited yes's mixed with two not so enthused 'aww mans' from Hayden and Madison. She smiled and kept her eyes glued to the screen looking at the little being growing inside of her. She had already had two kids, but pregnancy never ceased to amaze her. She only hoped that the baby would grow to be tough enough to handle its own against the other people in the room with her. Since her and House had gotten engaged, and Isabella and Logan had moved in full time, the house and her life had been nonstop, she kept busy and she liked it that way. She felt good knowing that the baby would be born into a home full of chaos and love.


	50. Chapter 50

**A/N: Okay one more chapter and an epilogue after this.**

* * *

"Busy?" Logan asked Cuddy as he walked into her office.

"Depends on what you need," she said looking up at him."What's up?"

"Can you call and schedule a visit with Yale for me?" he asked her handing her the paper from his backpack.

"Why can't you do it?" she asked as she began to read over the paper.

"Because if I call them, then you are going to want to know things about it that I don't know," he told her. "If you call them instead, you will be able to ask them everything you want to know."

She rolled her eyes at his smart-alecky comment, and turned back to the paper to finish reading.

"Why didn't you tell me this when you first got the paper?" she asked him. "It's going to be hard for me to take a day off with such short notice, I'll have to...,"

"No it's okay," he told her. "Greg's going with me."

She looked at him with a shocked expression on her face.

"And he told you this?" she asked the boy just to make sure he wasn't assuming that House was going to want to go with him. She just couldn't wrap her head around House agreeing to spend the day with a chancellor, deans, and all those other people who helped to run the school trying to sell them on their school. She couldn't even get him to attend any of the hospital meetings, and she had the gut feeling that he despised administrative boards of any kind.

"Yeah," the boy answered nonchalantly.

"Okay," she said after taking a deep breath. "I'll call them today."

"Thanks," the boy said before turning and leaving out of the office.  
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"I think you guys should get that one," Madison said.

"Yeah I think she'll like that house better," Hayden agreed.

"But this one's cheaper," he offered pointing to another picture.

"But I don't think she would really like that one," Madison countered.

He furrowed his brow as he studied the pictures again, really wanting to go with the least expansive. Although he could see why the other would be more expansive. It sat on a larger plot of land and the pictures on the outside showed a beautiful garden, that they would probably have to hire a gardener to keep up since Lisa had no time to garden. But he knew she would love it. It was the house with the largest square footage, and had a pool and a huge back yard and a nice partially covered patio. The inside was exactly what she had told him she wanted in the house. It was warm and inviting, and larger enough to accommodate their family. She had voiced that it was her favorite too, after they had saw them, but he was hoping to talk her into getting one of the least expensive ones.

"Hey, what are you guy's doing?" Logan asked.

He walked over to the desk and saw the five houses that House and Cuddy had narrowed their search down to.

"Trying to pick the house that mom would like better," Madison told him.

"Why don't you guys just ask her?" he said.

"Because dad's trying to surprise her," Hayden told him.

They were supposed to do this together, but she had so much work that she would have to put it off for a few weeks. He knew that she wanted to find a house and move as quickly as possible, so they could be settled before the baby was born and the wedding was only in a couple of weeks. It wasn't going to be anything big. He had given her full reign over the ceremony and she had stuck to her word. His mom was coming down. He had finally gotten to tell her the date, after she had almost talked his ear off after hearing the news about the wedding and the baby. He still couldn't believe that he was going to have a son. He was ecstatic about his first son, and even more ecstatic that he wouldn't have to worry about little hormonal teenage boys knocking on their doors when the baby got older. He would be the hormonal teenage boy knocking on other people's door. He got a kick out of that every time he thought about it; his pay back to the world after having to worry about three girls. He would also not be the only guy left in the house after Logan left for college.

"I think you should get this one," Logan said pointing to the one the girls chose. "She'll like this one better."

"Told you," Madison said with a smile.

"You're supposed to be on my side," House glared at Logan.

"I am on your side," the boy said with a smile. "Think about it, you are going to have to share this house with her forever, so she might as well be happy. She's happy, she's not mad at you and you don't get blamed for as many things that's not your fault."

House pressed his lips in thought for a moment. "Good idea," he mumbled. "I'll call April."

He picked up the phone to call their realtor and get everything started. He would purchase the house and surprise her with it after the deal had gone through. That way, they could just start moving things in and start to get ready for the baby.

* * *

"What do you think about me taking a year off from the hospital?" Cuddy asked as House crawled under the covers and got into bed next to her. "Well not completely. I was thinking about working from home more and hiring someone to help out at the hospital."

She didn't want to quit her job, she loved what she did, but she was starting to miss being more active in her personal life. By no means did she neglect the kids or her duties at home, but she wanted to indulge in the at home life a little more. They would soon be getting married and buying a new house. She would need time to get all of that settled the way she wanted it. And then the real reason why she wanted to spend more time at home was the kids. She was soon going to have a new baby in the house and she wanted to spend more time at home taking care of the baby. Working from home would also allow her to split her time more equally between the kids, mostly Isabella and the baby. She knew the little girl was used to being the baby in the house and getting all of her attention whenever she needed it and she wanted to make sure that she adjusted well to the new baby. Logan would also be leaving soon and Hayden would be right behind him the year after, and before she knew it Madison would be leaving. This would be the last year that she had with them all under the same roof, and she wanted to be there for as much of it as possible, she wanted to be there for them more.

"You don't want to run the hospital anymore?" he asked turning on his side to face her.

"Of course I do," she told him. "I just want to spend more time at home, with the kids. And since I'll be starting maternity leave soon, I just figure why not take an extended leave."

"Are you trying to stick me with paying for this house by myself?"he asked her jokingly.

"No," she said rolling her eyes at him, but not being able to hold back her smile. "I'll be working from home, so I'll still get most of my salary."

He stared at her and she became nervous. "So... what do you think?" she asked anxiously.

He thought about it a little while longer. "Will the person who will be taking your place at the hospital be able to fire me?"

"No," she told him realizing what the dilemma was.

"Then I think it's a good idea."

She smiled at him before kissing him goodnight.

* * *

"So did you start writing your vows yet?" Wilson asked as he and House took up their usual seats in the cafeteria.

"Why do I need to write them?"

Wilson's face dropped. He should have known better, but he still didn't want him to mess this day up for Lisa.

"At least tell me that you've thought about what you're going to say," he asked him.

House just looked at him with a blank expression on his face. He shook his head and started to eat his lunch. At least he would be able to warn her of what to expect on their wedding day. House took it upon himself to snatch the carton of grapes off of Wilson's tray.

"What are you doing?" Wilson asked a little upset. Although he didn't know why, he should have been used to this. "You have your own food that I bought."

"Forgot to get grapes," he said plucking one of them in his mouth. He was about to pop one more into his mouth until he saw a familiar face running towards him. He watched as the bouncing curls came closer to him, and couldn't help but to smile as he scooped Isabella up into his arms. He adjusted the little girl so she was sitting on his left leg. It didn't take long for Hayden, Logan, and Madison to round the corner.

"Hey dad, hey Uncle Jimmy," Madison said taking a seat at the table with them.

"Is this turkey?" Hayden asked grabbing half of House's sandwich off of his plate, and biting into it. After realizing that it was in fact turkey she decided to keep it. House just stared at her as she continued eating the sandwich.

"How much longer until the cast comes off?," Wilson asked her.

"Two months," she told him looking down at the light blue cast covered in different color signatures and phrases.

"Not to long," he told her.

"Yeah," she said grabbing a plastic fork off of the table, "but it itches so much." She tried to wedge the fork between the cast and her leg to try and scratch her leg.

"Stop scratching," House told her in a stern tone. She stretched her eyes and moved her mouth as if mocking him before placing the fork back on the table.

Wilson just smiled, he was still getting used to the new House. Well there wasn't really a new House, he was still the same person. All the nurses at the hospital still wanted to kill him, he threatened just as many law suits as he did before and he still gave his team hell. He still acted like a kid, especially when with the kids, but took up the fatherly role when Cuddy wasn't around to, or the situations got serious and she needed his back up.

"So did you get the house," Madison asked as she began to pluck fries from his plate along with Isabella who had been eating the grapes he had stolen from Wilson since he picked her up.

"Yeah, we can go sign the papers later on this evening," he told them. "But don't say anything."

"Say anything about what?" Isabella asked with a grape tucked in her jaw, making it sound a little obscured.

"Nothing," House politely told her. He had discovered a while ago that the little girl couldn't keep a secret.

"So how are you going to let her know?" Logan asked.

"We're going to go sign the papers tonight at the house," he told him.

"Good plan," Logan said picking up the other half of House's sandwich and biting into it.

Wilson had to hold back his laughter as House stared at the boy in disbelief. He didn't even seem to notice the look House was giving him.

"What are you guys doing for the rest of the day?" Madison asked still plucking fries from his plate.

"We are at work," Wilson pointed out to her.

"Sucks for you guys," she said. "We're about to go to the mall."

"Oh yeah," Hayden said remembering why they had come into the cafeteria in the first place. "Dad, can you babysit Izzy."

"Why didn't you bring her to your mom?" he asked already knowing she had.

"We did," the girl started again. "She told us to take her with us."

"So take her with you," he said taking the little girl off of his lap and putting her back on the floor.

They got up from the table making it known that they were not happy about having to take the Isabella along with them, and left the cafeteria. House took the opportunity to get back to his lunch, but when he looked down at his plate, he only had three fries, which looked hard and a little grape. Wilson couldn't help, but laugh at the expression on his face. Now House had no other choice, but to buy his own lunch since Wilson had taken the opportunity of House being distracted to finish his lunch, not giving House a chance to steal it.  
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House was own his way back to his office after 're-buying' his lunch and finishing it. Now he was due for a nap. He froze when he got to his office. He looked through and saw a woman with a black business pants suit on. Her dark brown hair fell a little past her neck and she had her back turned to him, but he could still tell who she was. _'What the hell is she doing here?'_ he asked himself. He swallowed hard as he took a step forward to find out the answer to his question.

She turned around quickly at the sound of the door opening. Neither of them said anything at first, as they stared at each other. His look was one of confusion, and a shy smile had taken over her initial look of fear. She started the conversation, figuring she owed him an explanation.

"I know I probably should have called to say I was coming," she told him, "but I wanted to surprise you."

"Well you succeeded in that department," he assured her as he walked into the office, letting the door close behind him.

"So...," she said letting it linger.

"So?" he replied really wanting to know why she was there. She was definitely affecting him, but he couldn't let her see that. She would always affect him, because he cared for her. He knew his feelings for her were strong, because after everything they had been through, and after all he felt that she had done to him, he still couldn't bring himself to hate her. But he was sure in his relationship with Lisa, although seeing Stacy in person was a lot different than talking to her on the phone.

"Have you had lunch yet?"

"Twice," he said arching an eyebrow, remembering his stolen lunch.

"Oh," she said a little disappointed. Again the awkward silence set in.

"I saw Lisa," she said eager to break the silence again. "She's really starting to show."

"You talked to Li...," he started, but she cut him off.

"No, no," she said waving her hands. "I saw her when I came into the hospital. She looked busy so I decided not to interrupt her."

He let out a breath of relief. He didn't know how well that would have gone over. Not that they would have caused a commotion, but Lisa and Stacy had never really been friends. More like acquaintances, since they had worked together for a short period of time.

"So everything's still fine between you two?" she asked.

House leaned on his cane a little more as he studied her face and rethought the question she had just asked him. She seemed as if she wanted him to say no. That he wasn't happy with Lisa and their relationship. But that was as far form the truth as he could get.

"Yeah," he said with a barely noticeable smirk. "Everything's fine."

She looked at him and with a disappointed smile said, "That's good." She continued to look at him, trying to hide the hurt on her face as if waiting for him to change his mind. "Well I won't keep you," she started again, "I just dropped by to see how you were. I'll let you get back to work...It was good seeing you again."

"You too Stacy," he said with a smile.

She walked over to him and placed a kiss on the very corner of his mouth and let it linger, as if trying to provoke him to kiss her on the lips, to see if she could still have that affect on him. But he didn't bite. He saw someone looking at them out of the corner of his eyes, and his smile slowly melted away as he saw a pair of steel blue eyes on them. She didn't notice him looking at her right away, and he could read the hurt on her face. She soon noticed him looking at her, and her hurt turned to anger as their eyes connected. She stared at him a little longer, shooting daggers with her eyes before walking off towards the elevators figuring she would deal with the situation later. She didn't want to barge in and make a big commotion, not in her hospital. She had to maintain her professionalism. He was frozen and just stood staring in the direction she had left, as Stacy pulled back from the kiss.

"Bye Greg," she said before exiting the office in the direction Lisa had just left.

He still stood in the same place. He knew he would have a lot of explaining to do.


	51. Chapter 51

House made his way down to her office, not so much in a hurry to get yelled at, but kind of in a hurry to explain himself. He walked into her office cautiously, expecting to get something hurled at his head, but she wasn't there. So he took it upon himself to wait for her. He sat on the sofa and within the next five minutes, she was walking through the door with her assistant. She didn't notice him right away and continued giving orders to her assistant. He smiled almost forgetting the trouble he was in when he saw the little tummy that she was getting.

"I need you to call Princeton General and get this patient's file faxed over and," she stopped, when she noticed him and shot him a glare. The smile immediately disappeared from his face when he saw the way she looked at him. She quickly recovered and put up the façade as if nothing was bothering her. "Fax these to Mr. Bolden, the donor I've been telling you about, and tell him if he has any other questions to give me a call."

The nurse nodded as Cuddy placed more papers on top of the small stack she had in her hand, and left the office. Cuddy shot him another glare and opened her mouth to say something, but decided to ignore him instead, or maybe she was just too angry at him to think straight. Instead she just rolled her eyes and made her way over to her desk and sat down and started going through the papers.

"I know what you think you saw," he said as he got up from the couch and walked over to her desk, "but that wasn't really what happened."

"And what do I think I saw?" she asked glancing up at him shortly before returning to signing her name on some of the forms, she had obviously already read over.

"I didn't know she was going to be here today," he told her. "And I didn't kiss her."

"Really?" she asked putting the pen down on her desk finally showing her frustration with the entire situation.

"She leaned into me, and I thought she was going for the cheek, but I guess she sorta gravitated towards the hotness of my lips."

She just looked at him, not amused by his attempt at a joke. "Ookaay," he said. "Not in a joking mood."

She studied him a while longer before speaking. "Do you still love her Greg?" She asked standing up and walking in front of her desk to study him closer.

He hesitated and looked away from her. Her mouth fell open and she looked towards the floor as tears started to well in her eyes. Here she was carrying yet another one of his kids, and he still wasn't sure if he wanted to be with her or Stacy.

"Yes," he said then quickly added, "but only as a friend. That's it. I feel nothing more for her." She still didn't look at him. "I love you," he continued. "I'm in love with you."

She looked back at him searching his eyes for truth. "Lisa, we're getting married in two weeks. I've asked you to marry me three times, I haven't asked her once. There's a reason for that."

"And what's that reason?" she asked him.

"Because I don't love her the way that I love you," he told her, still hating to have to pour his heart out like this. But he knew he could trust her with his heart, so he didn't really mind. He also needed her to believe him, he wasn't willing to loose her again. "I never have," he continued. "I made my choice over twenty years ago back in Baltimore. I've never regretted that choice. She called me the other night on the phone, and I thought that was the end of it. I swear, I didn't know she was coming here today."

She looked at him a while and let out a sigh of surrender. "Okay," she told him. "Just do me a favor and call me before you end up alone in a room with her again."

"Jealous are we?" he asked pulling her into a hug.

"Just trying to keep you out of trouble, as always," she said smiling up at him.

She stood on her toes and leaned into him placing a quick peck on his lips. "I have a meeting to get to," she said slipping out of his arms and leaving the office.

He looked around the empty office not too sure of what to do with himself. Sure the clinic was right there, but how viable of an option was that. It didn't take him long to get an idea that would make him sure that Cuddy got the message and remove all doubt from her mind about what had just happened. He took out his cell phone and pressed the speed dial button.

"Hello?" he heard a distracted voice say on the other side.

"I need you guys to get back to the hospital," he said.

"What for?" she asked.

"Just get here," he told her.

She let out an annoyed sigh followed by a not too convincing, "Alright."

"Now Hayden," he told her knowing her well enough to know she needed the clarification, "Not five hours from now."

"Okaaay," she said sounding even more annoyed. "We're on our way _now_."

She hung up and he couldn't help but to smile, as he walked out of the office. No need in going through the trouble if she wasn't going to go through with it. He left out of her office, on his way to round up some more people, he knew she would want there.

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Cuddy strolled into the clinic with her usual confident stride, which started to falter a little as she noticed some of the nurses looking at her smiling. She slowed her walk as she tried to figure out what was going on. She made her way into the office to see all the kids, House, all of his old ducklings, his new ducklings, Wilson, and Judge Milan, who often oversaw minor legal procedures at the hospital. They all smiled at her and she turned to the one person who she believed to be behind all of this.

"House," she asked walking over to him slowly, still eyeing everyone in the room, "what's going on? Why is everyone in my office? And what is Judge Milan doing here? " Suddenly her tone turned from suspicious to accusatory as she put her hands on her hips. "What did you do?"

He just held his hand up to his chest as if he was insulted that she would accuse him of doing something wrong.

"Relax Lisa," Wilson said reassuring her. "He actually didn't do anything bad this time."

She turned from Wilson and back to House. "Well what's going on?"

"Well I got the feeling that you were still a little upset about earlier, so I decided to show you that I meant what I said."

She still looked at him a little confused. "I want to marry you... right here, right now," he told her.

Her mouth opened to say something, but nothing would come out.

"Don't tell me you've changed your mind," he told her, "because that would be so embarrassing."

She realized that she hadn't answered him, and a smile came to her face. "Of course I haven't," she said as she took his hand that was extended to her.

He smiled back at her and they both stepped in front of the judge standing in front of her desk. Cameron took a spot beside Cuddy and Wilson a spot beside House, each holding one of the rings House had gotten from home while Cuddy was in the meeting.

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After the 'I do's' were said and done, she got into her car with him in the driver's seat. They had decided to still have a party within the next two weeks to celebrate them getting married, and had decided to put off their honeymoon for a couple of months since Cuddy didn't want to go on anywhere while she was pregnant.

"Where are we going?" she asked looking out of the window, at the residential streets that looked vaguely familiar. Mainly because they had traveled them a few weeks ago while house haunting.

"You'll see," he told her with a smile as he turned another corner. She knew she wasn't going to get a straight answer out of him, so she decided not to ask anymore. He made a few more turns, and in less than five minutes they were pulling up into the long drive way of a large gray bricked two story home. She just looked at him as he turned the car off and opened the door to get out.

"What are we doing here?" she asked him, still not sure why they had come back to the home they had viewed a few weeks ago. She saw their realtor's car and thought that they were just meeting to talk more about what the terms would be if they decided to go with the house. She couldn't help but to be a little excited since she wanted the house so badly.

"Are you getting out or what?" he asked. She looked at him once more, before getting out of the car. She followed him through the open garage and into the house. They went down the long corridor until they got to the kitchen. She stopped at the door when she saw April sitting at the table.

"Hey April," she said, still a little confused.

"Hey," the woman said standing up to greet them. "So you ready to sign the papers to close on your new house."

Cuddy's eyes got big and her mouth fell open. She quickly turned to House who was standing there with an accomplished smile on his face.

"Our new house?" she asked turning back to April, still not sure she had heard right.

April nodded, "As soon as you sign the papers."

A smile appeared on her face as she turned around to face house, who was standing close behind her. She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his. He wrapped his arms around her waist and immediately tried to invade her mouth with his tongue. She pulled her lips away from his, only because she realized they were in the presence of company.

"You're right," he said smiling down at her with his arm still wrapped around her. "You can thank me tonight."

She slapped him playfully in the chest and couldn't help but to laugh along with April as she pulled herself out of his arms.

"Where do we sign?" she asked excitedly.  
______________________________________

…4 months later

"What's wrong sweetie?" Lisa asked Isabella, who sat in her lap, with a knowing smile having felt it too. She was sitting on the floor in the nursery folding up some of the little baby clothes to put them away. The little girl had just shifted suddenly and was now staring curiously at her bulging belly. They had managed to get the nursery along with the rest of the house together before the baby arrived. There was still a few more boxes to unpack, but nothing major. Blythe was sitting in the rocking chair helping her fold clothes and stopped also, having an idea about what the little girl was going to say.

"Your tummy keeps hitting me," she said, making the two women laugh.

"It's the baby," Lisa explained with a smile. "He's kicking to let us know that he's still there and that he's alright. Here feel," she said taking the little girl's hand and placing it on her belly. After a few more seconds she felt the baby kick again. The little girl smiled and looked up at Lisa.

"When is the baby going to get here?" she asked. "I wanna play with him."

"He'll be here soon ," Blythe assured her.

"Sooner than you think," Lisa said with a slightly panicked look on her face, as she stood Isabella out of her lap and placed her hand on her stomach. She then looked to Blythe. "My water just broke."

"Well com'on then," Blythe said standing and walking over to help her get up off of the floor. "We've got to get you to the hospital. I'm too old to deliver a baby."

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**A/N: Okay I've already started on the prequel. I'll start posting soon depending on the comments I get from this chapter and the epilogue.**


	52. Epilogue

Lisa closed the laptop and sat it on the coffee table in front of her and looked out into the back yard. The golden sun shined brightly through the large windows lining the wall opposite of her. She smiled having enough experience to know the hilarity was coming soon as she sat on the sofa in the sun room of their house. She was looking out into the back yard and watching as Logan, Madison, and Hayden tried to give Trouble a bath, with little success, as Isabella jumped on the trampoline. The dog had gotten significantly bigger, and still lived up to his name. He refused to take a bath, which he really needed, after digging through the neighbor's flower bed. Luckily, she thought, they had moved into a neighborhood full of families, that didn't get too upset about things like that. Well, except for the little old lady that lived down the street. Noah, stood at the French doors, using the windows to balance himself as he watched them, amused by the circus act in front of him.

"Give it to me," she heard Madison yell as she tried to pry the sponge from Trouble's mouth.

The dog only took this as a playful game of tug-o-war and pulled back, causing Madison to fall forward a little. Hayden stood over the dog and pulled backwards on his collar trying to aid Madison in dislodging the sponge from its jaws. Logan walked over with the hose to help by trying to pry the dog's jaws open. The hose got to close to the dog's mouth and he let go of the sponge only to grab the hose out of Logan's hand.

"Izzy, no," Hayden tried to warn the girl, but it was too late. Isabella had thrown the little blue ball to the other side of the yard and Trouble took off after it, knocking Hayden to the ground. The pain she felt as she landed on her butt, was soon forgotten as she let out a yelp after having gotten sprayed in the face with the hose as Trouble ran away with it still in his mouth, wetting all three of them.

Noah let out a squeal before hitting the glass a couple of times and falling into a fit of laughter. Lisa couldn't help, but to follow as she too started laughing.

"Wow," she heard a voice come from behind her. "Hard to believe they're A students."

She turned around with a warm smile on her face, happy that he was home.

"Aww don't be so hard on them," she told him as he walked over to the door and picked up Noah. "Everyone who comes into the hospital find it hard to believe that you're as good a doctor as they hear."

He held his hand to his chest as if he was offended then turned his attention back to the little boy in his arms. Before he could say anything, the baby took one of his drooled filled hands out of his mouth and dragged it across House's cheek and lips, leaving a trail of his drool. He looked unsure as his dad twisted his face into one of disgust, but started to laugh and kick his little feet after hearing his mother's soft laughter behind him. He walked over to the couch with the baby still in his arms and took a seat next to Lisa. He sat Noah on his left leg and draped his right arm across the back of the couch, and she scooted closer to him.

"How was work?" she asked before placing her hand on his cheek, turning his head towards her and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"Okay," he said. "But I really wish you would hurry up and come back so I can stop doing so much clinic duty."

"How many hours did you do this week?" she asked him.

"A grueling thirty minutes," he said.

She tilted her head to the side and looked at him disappointedly. She was fooling herself when she thought he would go easy on her replacement after she had asked him too. She laid her head on his shoulder and went back to watching Trouble, give the kids a bath.

He couldn't help the smile that splayed across his face as she snuggled closer to him. He kissed the top of her head and joined her in watching the mayhem in the back yard. He couldn't help but think this was they way it was supposed to be; a functionally dysfunctional family. He loved coming home to her and having her to talk to after work. He loved falling asleep with her in his arms, and waking up next to her. He even liked the feel of the drool that was currently leaking from his son's mouth and down the back of his hand. He loved everything about the life that they had pieced together and made for themselves, and he wouldn't trade if for the world.

**The End**

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A/N: Again, I hope you guys enjoyed this story. Sadly this is the end.


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